I run with wolves
by OneWhoCuddlesFire
Summary: Maddie, Alice, Bella, and Rosalie are all sisters. They each have a special power; shape-shifting into wolves. What happens when they move to Forks and meet another pack like them, but yet so different? What happens when they imprint? R&R! Will edit soon.
1. They just HAD to imprint today

_**I do not own Twilight, but I do own Maddie :D And, as promised, I have fixed my chapters and are reposting them, along with Chapter Five. Enjoy!**_

* * *

**MPOV**

"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! We've got school and you gotta get up! Up, up, up!" Alice practically screamed in my ear.

"Ahh!" I yelled, falling off my bed and onto the floor. A giggling Alice sat on my bed, holding my comforter in front of her mouth to hide her not-so-silent giggles. She then got up and skipped over to my closet, looking through my outfits and trying to decide what she thought I should wear today. I got up off the floor and walked up behind her to see what she was looking at.

She had two pairs of jeans in her hands; one was a pair of black, shiny skinny jeans, the others were a light blue. Sighing, I grabbed the black ones and threw them on my bed. Alice put the blue ones back and started going through my shirts. I pushed her aside and rummaged in there myself, coming out with a gray tee and a black zip-up jacket that had **I Run With Wolves** written in white on the front. Smiling at the irony, I laid it all out on my bed and went to take a shower. Thanks to my special hearing, I heard Alice give Bella the same wakeup call I'd received this morning.

After my nice hot shower, I dried my hair and got dressed. I slipped on my black leather boots and brushed out my reddish brown hair, letting it flow down my back to my waist as always. I applied eye liner, mascara, and shiny silver eye shadow. When I deemed myself ready, I made my way downstairs for breakfast. Esme was in the kitchen preparing our food. A moment later, Rosalie came down the stairs, dressed and wearing her black wolf jacket like I was. I gave her a thumbs up and she grinned at me.

Rosalie had the same biker look going on as I did; shiny dark gray pants, a red tee, and her jacket, with her tall red boots. Her eye shadow was red and she wore mascara and eyeliner, along with red lipstick. Her blonde hair was down and flowing on her back.

We sat at the table and started scarfing down the already-made food when Alice came bouncing down with Bella close behind her. Alice had her hair as spiky as ever, wearing a yellow tee and shiny white pants, and her wolf jacket like Rose and I; it was a trend of ours. She had yellow eye shadow to match her shirt, and also had mascara, eye liner, and clear lip gloss. Her boots were yellow.

Bella was wearing a dark blue tee and some shiny white pants; her wolf jacket on over it like ours. She had dark blue eye shadow, and was also wearing mascara, eyeliner, and clear lip gloss. Her boots were typically dark blue. Her brown hair was down like the rest of ours. We sat at the table with our bags at our feet and scarfed down the huge mound of food in front of us. We ate a lot more than the average person.

Once we had eaten breakfast, we all got up and left, saying goodbye to our mother, Esme. We knew Carlisle would be home later.

Sighing, we went over to our bikes and I rubbed my hand across mine longingly. Getting to ride my baby every day; a dream-come-true. Grinning, I hopped on, not needing a helmet. My motorcycle was called my 'BoomBaby'. It was a 2009 Ducati 1198 Superbike, and it was a hot-rod red. I purred when it fired to life. I glanced sideways and saw the girls hopping on their bikes as well. With one last glance, I sped out of the garage and onto the long driveway through the woods, heading towards our new school.

When the school was in sight I laughed at it; it was so puny! Leading the others, I drove my motorcycle into the parking lot and saw many heads turn. Smirking, I came to a pair of empty parking spots; plenty of room for our four bikes. We all pulled in and the roaring of our bikes filled the lot for a moment before we all cut the engines. I hopped off my bike and stroked it. Making sure the others were ready, we all walked side-by-side towards the main building.

Everyone turned to stare at us as we passed, and after we passed there were hushed conversations full of furious whispers. I could already see this would be a long year. _Sounds fun_ I thought, smirking. We walked up the steps of the school and inside the double doors, going down the hall to the office. We emerged in a tiny, warm room with ugly green carpeting and old dusty desks. The woman sitting behind the desk closest to the door looked ancient.

She smiled in that old grandmother-y way and said "Are you the new girls? The Cullens?" We all nodded and she gave us our schedules and a map of the school. We went into the hallway away from her creepy looks and busted into laughter.

"Wow; shouldn't she be dead by now? I'll bet the last time she laughed really hard, she probably fell off her dinosaur!" we all laughed at that. As we did, the bell rang, signaling us to class. We all waved goodbye to each other and set off in different directions to our classes. A minute later, a boy with blonde hair and baby blue eyes came running up to me. I can't even get to my first class without getting ambushed? Ugh.

"Hi, you must be one of the new girls, I'm Mike Newton." he said, holding out his hand.

I shook it and said "Madelyn Cullen; call me Mads."

Looking hopeful, he asked "Need help finding your first class?"

I shook my head. "No thanks. This place is small enough that I think I can find it." I told him, smiling. I used one of my dazzling smiles to distract him and then quickly walked down the hall. A few doors down I came upon my first hour class and, smiling, walked inside. It was an average size classroom for the amount of students in it. The usual white tiled floor and plain white walls. I handed the teacher my slip and, telling me her name was Miss Wible, told me to have a seat in the back, next to a tall girl with light brown hair and a kind smile.

I made my way back to my seat and sat beside the girl, who turned to me and said "Hi; I'm Angela Weber."

"Madelyn Cullen; call me Mads." I told her. I turned my head to pay attention to Miss Wible as the hour sped by. It was easy to listen to Miss Wible. Smiling, I stood up just as the bell rang, releasing us. Angela and I parted ways with a wave and I made my way to my next class; Pre-Calc.

In Pre-Calc I had to sit next to a brunette with bouncing hair and wouldn't stop chattering. I mean come on, I'm used to Alice's chattering, but this girl was _nuts_. I wanted to scream at her to shut up, but I held my tongue. I could feel the ripples going along my body, and I tried to relax myself and ignore the constant jabbering in my left ear. I sighed with relief when the bell rang.

Walking out of Pre-Calc, I made my way to History class. The teacher of this class was a short skinny man that liked to smile. He signed my slip and told me to have a seat next to a boy with honey blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. I sat and he turned to me with a smile, offering his hand. I shook it and said "Hello, I'm Madelyn Cullen, but everyone calls me Mads. And you are?"

"Jasper Whitlock ma'am; just call me Jazz." he said with a slight southern accent. Smiling, I turned to pay attention to the teacher. When the final bell rang, I got up to leave, but Jasper put a hand on my shoulder.

"Would you like to sit with my friends and me at lunch today? I'm sure your sisters will be welcome as well." He promised. We were all just going to sit away from everyone else like we used to, but I suppose this might work out better. I nodded at him and made my way to my fourth class.

Upon entering, I had to smile. It was totally a social classroom. Round tables and chairs all over the place and nothing else to suggest working. I handed the teacher my slip and, gesturing towards the room, she said "Sit anywhere; this is your free class of the day. It was my idea. I knew the students would love it." she grinned. She was so young for a teacher. Grinning as well, I made my way back to an empty table, sitting down.

A moment later, Alice bounced through the door with Bella in tow. They got their slips signed and came back to sit with me. Right before the bell was about to ring, Rosalie came dashing in. She got her slip signed and the moment she sat down, the bell rang. Sighing with relief, she laid her head back, catching her breath.

"Okay, I know this school is tiny, but I was all the way across campus, and the kid that was showing me where my class was led me to the wrong classroom, so I had only one minute to dash across to here." she said, breathless. I giggled behind my hand and Rosalie shot a hard glare at me. Then she sighed and relaxed.

"So, have you guys met anybody yet today?" she asked, playing with her hair.

Alice nodded. "Some kid named Eric tried to show me to my first hour class, and I got stuck next to a girl with puffy brown hair who talks more than me! And her conversations are all nonsense; at least mine are important!" she defended herself. I snorted.

"She was in my second hour Pre-Calc class; I think her name is Jessica." I added. Alice nodded and then continued.

"But in third hour, that must have been the worst! There was this kid with blonde hair and blue eyes that asked me to sit with him at lunch, and then he totally asked me out! He's such a creeper, and still some little kid!" she giggled.

"That's Mike Newton; he tried talking to me this morning too." I giggled.

"What about you Bella? You meet anyone?" Alice turned the conversation to Bella.

"There was one really nice girl who sat in my third hour class; Angela Weber. She's really shy and nice; I like her." she said. I nodded my agreement.

"She was in my first hour class." I commented.

Bella nodded, smiling. "So do we have anywhere to sit at lunch today, or are we just going to giggle in the corner at all the school's atrocities?" she asked with a laugh. I laughed too.

"This guy Jasper Whitlock invited all of us to sit with him and his friends during lunch today. I told him sure; he was hot enough that maybe we'll get some people to leave us alone." I said, shrugging.

They nodded their agreement before Rosalie spoke up "There aren't a lot of cute guys in this school; they're all these small town kids and no really hot guys." she said, sighing.

"Maybe because we're in a small town?" I gave Rose a 'no-duh' look. She stuck her finger up at me with a grin.

"No delicious eye candy." She sighed. That earned a snort from Bella.

"Hey, you love eye candy just as much as the rest of us girl." I accused her. She grinned mischievously.

"Although I have to say, that Jasper kid wasn't my type, but he was eye candy... Definitely." I told them. The girls brightened up instantly.

"And maybe he has eye-candy friends?" Rose suggested. We nodded our heads vigorously and giggled. Right then the bell rang releasing us to lunch.

We filed out of class and once in the hall, linked our arms so we were side by side. Everyone was going the same way as us anyway, and we did walk a lot faster than them. When we reached the cafeteria doors, I opened them and we all went inside.

The cafeteria was fairly small compared to what we were used to, but it worked. Nothing but a bunch of round tables all over the place with chairs. We went to the lunch line and were surprised at how edible the food looked. Huh. Shrugging, I loaded up my tray with a ton of food; so much that it was nearly overflowing. The girls and I always only got one tray stuffed full of food to share, considering our massive appetites. I went to pay for it all with the girls behind me.

Once we had paid, I noticed Jasper standing near the back of the cafeteria watching us. He beckoned us over. We all walked through the room towards the round table in the back and Rosalie, Bella, and Alice caught their breaths and had a dazed look in their eyes.

I sat down first and the girls followed swiftly, their eyes locked on certain guys. I sighed. This could not be good.

Alice reached her hand tentatively across the table towards Jasper and said in a shaky voice "H-hi. I'm Alice Cullen." Jasper shook her hand, giving her a crooked grin.

"Jasper Whitlock ma'am. Pleasure to meet you." he said. I think Alice melted on the spot. I glanced over at Rosalie, and she was staring into the eyes of a really big guy. When he caught her staring, he turned and winked at her, saying "Hey gorgeous. Who might you be?"

"Rosalie Cullen, well, everyone calls me Rose." she said shyly. Emmett stuck out his hand and Rose shook it.

"Emmett Burland; please just call me Em." he said, winking at her again. Yep, she was gone too. Lastly I turned to Bella.

Shy as ever, she said "I'm Bella Cullen." She slowly stuck out her hand to the bronze-haired boy in front of her.

He shook it, saying "Edward Mason." He grinned at her and she grinned shyly back. I sighed. Yup, all three of them were gone. _Thank God I'm Alpha_ I thought irritably. Suddenly one more boy came over and sat down. When he saw me he froze up for a moment with weird twinkle in his eyes before it went away and he silently sniffed the air, and I did too. He smelled strange; not entirely human. _He smells a lot like us_, I realized with a shock.

I stuck out my hand, saying "Madelyn Cullen; Call me Mads. And you are?" I asked.

He shook my hand, saying "I'm Seth Clearwater. A friend of mine, Sam Uley, will probably want to talk with you as soon as possible."

I nodded my head. "Where and when would you like us to meet him?"

"On the border of the Quileute Reservation; stay in the trees. We'll all be waiting for you. How about 9pm tonight?" He asked.

I nodded my approval. "That sounds perfect. We'll be there." He nodded, his job done. He began conversing with me about random things, ignoring the fact that we might very well be rivals. He was a happy punk of a kid; I really liked his open personality. He mentioned he was really seventeen, though he looked younger. He claimed to have just recently changed. We talked and talked, mostly about our favorite motorcycles since he found out I was so into them. When the bell rang, we parted ways with a smile. I think I just made my first real friend.

I saw the guys lead Rose, Alice, and Bella away in different direction. _Great; they have classes with the guys. That's just fantastic_ I thought sarcastically. Sighing, I made my way to my second to last class of the day. Art.

I smiled when I entered the room. The wonderful smell of an organized art class. I got my slip signed and went to sit in a chair in the back corner of the room. I hated being the center of attention when I worked in art.

Miss Strouth stood and said "Today everyone, we will be painting. I want you to paint a picture that means something to you. Something special." she said. She called groups up to go get supplies. Before I could get up to get them, a familiar face came back towards me, carrying twice the necessary supplies and asked "Mind if I join you?"

I smiled. "Not at all. I was starting to get lonely. You didn't have to get the paints though; I am physically capable." I told him, smirking. Seth laughed and sat in the chair next to mine, handing me the supplied I needed. I put them on my desk and grabbed two easels and canvases from the wall and brought them back for Seth and I. We set them up and put everything within easy reach before we began. Seth seemed to be trying to hide something, though I wasn't sure what. Like he was keeping himself in check.

After a moment's thought, I asked "What are you going to paint?"

He thought about it for a moment before grinning. "A lone wolf, howling at the moon." We both chuckled at that.

"I think I'm going to paint some wolves running, with me as a human in the middle." I giggled. He laughed and we began to paint the promised pictures. When the hour was over, we had finished with the final touches. Miss Strouth told everyone to turn their canvases so she could see them from the front and we turned ours around.

She nodded with approval, and then when she looked over at Seth's and mine, she stood and said "All of your paintings are wonderful. However, let's give a big round of applause to Seth and Madelyn in the back for their masterpieces!" she said, clapping. Everyone else turned to look and clap and I saw some of their mouths drop open. I grinned and Seth smirked.

We put our paintings in the front for Miss Strouth to look at and keep. Then we had a few minutes to sit around and talk while we waited for the bell. Seth and I sat in the back.

"So how are things with your pack? The move smooth?" He asked. I groaned.

"We had a larger pack at home; I left the most responsible kid in charge; made him alpha. The move here was fairly smooth though. The only problem is that Rose, Bells, and Alice found their soul mates at lunch today. I do _not_ want to have to listen to them talk about their soul mates nonstop when we run. It was bad enough listening to one kid back home, but three?" I groaned again. Seth laughed.

"We've got a couple that have soul mates already too. Sam, Paul, Jared, Quil, and Jacob all got their soul mates. Quil's was the funniest though; soul mate is a two-year old!" he laughed. I laughed with him.

"How can you handle listening to them think about their lovers when you run?" I asked him.

He shrugged his shoulders and said "You get used to it. Either that or you yell at them to shut up for a while and eventually they get the point." I slowly nodded my head. Right then the bell rang. Sighing, I got up and waved farewell to Seth, going to Biology. I was so thankful that gym was only mandatory for two years at this school.

When I entered class, I handed the teacher my slip to sign and took the last available seat in the back again. I whipped out my cell and sent a quick text to Alice.

-Pixie-

Meeting at 9 tonight

on Quileute rez border.

Another pack here, Grr.

-Alpha-

I paid attention for another moment in class before my phone buzzed silently in my pocket. Pulling it out, I almost laughed at the text.

-Alpha-

Crap. Stupid pups.

We gonna teach em

some manners?

-Pixie-

I quickly responded, telling her no and that I'd meet her at home later; I was going to go for a run. She didn't respond after that, but I assumed the silence as her saying "okay". Once the final bell rang, I sighed in relief and practically ran out to the parking lot. When I got to my bike, I stroked it like I always do. I loved my BoomBaby.

I fired up my bike and was about to pull out when Seth came jogging over. I shut off the bike and he came over, looking over the bike with an appraising eye. He whistled, and said "That's a nice bike."

I smiled. "Thanks."

He put his hands in his pocket and leaned back against the car next to me. "So what're you gonna do before the meeting tonight?"

I shrugged. "I dunno. I was planning on taking a run through the area; get used to some of the sights and smells." I said, teasing. Seth grinned.

"Well I don't have anything to do until the meeting either; is it cool if I join you?" he asked.

I grinned. "Sure thing; it'd be nice to have someone to talk to. I gotta stop by my house first though; wanna hop on?" I asked him.

A huge smile broke out on his face. "Seriously?" he asked.

I nodded and the bike roared to life underneath of me. Seth hopped on the back and wound his arms around my waist. I thought I caught him smelling my hair, but I brushed it off, thinking I was imagining things. Although he was holding my waist tighter than was necessary... I mentally shook my head, clearing away my thoughts. I did not need to be thinking about that, nor should I think about how good his arms felt around me...

I mentally yelled at myself _Get a grip!_

We pulled down the driveway and skidded to a stop in the garage. I shut off the bike and Seth hopped off. I got off and went inside the door leading from the garage to the main floor of the house. When I got inside, I went up to the third floor where my bedroom was located. Going in my room, I noticed with approval that it was nice and cold in here. Sighing, I went to my dresser drawers and opened one up, digging to the bottom. I pulled out a big yellow band with an important symbol on it and wrapped it around my wrist. Smiling, I went back outside. Seth and I jogged to different points in the forest to change.

Once I got to a small shady spot, I stripped down and folded my clothes into a neat pile at the base of a tree. Sighing, I called forth my inner wolf and was suddenly on four paws. Grinning, I checked to make sure the yellow band was still on my front left leg. After making sure it was, I howled into the afternoon air, savoring the feels and smells of the forest around me. A moment later, I got the expected answering call as Seth came running my way.

When he got to me, I glanced at his front left leg and noticed he didn't wear a band. Strange. Then I noticed an orange light creeping around the skin there, and suddenly an insignia flashed yellow on the spot where his band should be, and then it disappeared. Startled, I peered closer, and noticed with surprise that my personal symbol was etched into his fur and skin. Shaking my head, I wondered why this was. I vaguely remembered this happening to another person in my old pack and someone else, but I couldn't remember why. Shrugging, I started trotting deeper into the woods with Seth on my tail.

As we got deeper in and the house disappeared from sight, I sighed in relief. The tension began falling from my shoulders. I barked a laugh and grinned goofily at Seth before taking off running through the underbrush. I heard Seth's laugh in my head and was surprised by it. Slowing, I asked _Seth, can you hear me?_

_Yeah, why?_ He asked me, confused.

_You're in a different pack; I shouldn't be able to hear you at all. Strange._ I said thoughtfully. Seth shrugged his massive shoulders at me and began to lope through the bushes, trying to hide his thoughts from me. I thought I caught the word _duh_ in there somewhere. Completely confused, I shook my head and trotted along-side him. After a while, I noticed it was beginning to get dark. I mentioned this to Seth and he noted that he should probably get back to the rez to give the guys a heads-up. Nodding to him, I barked cheerfully to him once before heading back towards home.

I stopped by the tree to grab my clothes and throw them on before heading back to the house. With my sensitive hearing, I picked up people talking in the living room and I knew my sisters were home. Sighing, I made my way inside.


	2. Meeting the Pups

_** Chapter Two up and running! Don't forget to review for me, pplleeaassee! :D**_

* * *

**MPOV**

As soon as I entered, Alice came running up to me and said "There you are! What took you so long; we have to meet the wolves in an hour!" I sighed.

"I was running, I told you that. Now please Alice, let me go. I'm all set for the meeting, but I can already tell you aren't." I told her. She crossed her arms.

"What makes you think I'm not ready?" she asked.

"You aren't wearing your band." I told her, pointing to her left wrist. Her mouth popped open in a little 'O' and she ran up to her room to get her band. The others followed to go get theirs. I sat in the living room, thinking about my symbol on Seth's leg. I just couldn't remember what it was about. The girls came running back down with their bands on their wrists. Sighing with relief, we waved farewell to Esme, our mother, and sprinted out the back door.

Once we got to the cover of the trees and were close to the border, we all stripped except our bands and shifted. I sighed once I was back in my wolf form; it was much more comfortable than being human.

As we ran towards the border, I tried to think of where I'd seen that symbol thing happen before and came up empty. Alice's thoughts intruded in my head.

_I can't remember it either. Where did you see that? _She asked. I thought back to when I went running with Seth today and I heard her gasp and then giggle.

_I thought you went running alone? Oh, nevermind. At least you have a friend now; that way you don't have to spend time around your love-stricken sisters._ She told me, winking. I rolled my eyes at her, but nodded all the same. Stupid imprinting.

A few minutes later, I could smell the border close and veered to a small meadow with the boundary line going right down the middle of it. I stood proudly in the middle of the others, my strange fur glinting in the moonlight. A moment later I could sense the other pack running our direction.

When they all appeared out of the bushes, they looked shocked at our obvious feministic. I was upset they only had one girl in the pack, but I shrugged it away. Now wasn't the time. I was, however, disappointed that none of them had bands on their legs like they should.

I took in their colors and figures. There were ten of them in all. The one in front was a black one. The four behind him was a russet colored one, a dark gray one, a light brown one, and a slim gray one. Behind them was a chocolate brown one, a tan one, a black and gray speckles one, and another brown one. I noticed the sandy colored wolf in the back and recognized Seth. I locked eyes with him and he grinned goofily. I snorted at him; immature, but still hilarious.

Alice grinned goofily when she heard what I said. I snorted at her too. Suddenly I heard the solid thumps of two wolves coming up behind us. I'm surprised I hadn't noticed them when they shifted. Carlisle and Esme bounded into the clearing, take up their positions behind me. We now had six wolves on our side. By the end of the week there would probably be nine of us, if we could anger the other three. Easy.

I noticed with approval that Esme and Carlisle had not forgotten their yellow bands. I was the same rank as them, and I was immensely proud of myself for it.

Once we were assembled in our spots, I howled up to the sky and the other five joined me, howling at the moon. Suddenly I could hear Seth's voice in my head like I did earlier.

_Why are you howling? A tradition from back home?_ He asked. I nodded my large head.

_Yes, at the beginning of every wolf meeting, all members are supposed to howl._ I told him.

_Why?_ He asked. _Why not just say 'hello'?_

_It's supposed to be a formal greeting, and it's tradition for all packs._ I supplied. He snorted and shook his head, but otherwise didn't comment.

The leader, a large black wolf I knew to be Sam, stepped forward. I took a step forward, bowing my head for a moment before raising it back up. He only stood there. In my head I scoffed _He's still a pup._

Alice looked over at the rest of them and said _They're all pups; probably only 17 or so each._ I agreed and chuckled. They probably thought we were that young too. Wow did they have a lot to learn. I repressed a sigh.

Grinning, I turned my attention back to Sam, who merely stood there, unsure of what to do. I rolled my eyes and said_ Might as well shift; The stupid pup._ I turned around, flicking my tail in irritation. I ran back to where our clothes were stored nearby and shifted, getting changed. I ran quickly back to the clearing. Sam was just coming out of the trees on the other side in nothing but a pair of cut-offs. I rolled my eyes again. They're so lazy.

Sam came forwards and said "Greetings; I'm Sam Uley, leader of the Quileute pack."

I nodded and bowed respectfully. "Madelyn Cullen; former leader of the Sand pack, leader of the ShiftingColors pack."

He bowed out of respect and then asked "I'm assuming you and your family have moved to Forks?"

"That is correct." I nodded again.

"How long will you be staying?" he asked. I glanced back at Esme.

"For a couple years, then we will move on again so folks don't get suspicious. If something goes awry before then, we might have to move immediately." I told him. He looked surprised by this.

"Why move so often instead of stay in one place?" he asked. I rolled my eyes. Such a childlike answer.

"People tend to get suspicious when you don't age and live in the same place for hundreds of years." I told him. He looked shocked for a moment.

"Not to be rude, but exactly how old are you?" he asked cautiously.

I stood up straighter "I'll be turning 243 next month. I'm the oldest beside Carlisle and Esme, our parents. They're both 268 years old; I was their first child when they became wolves." I told them. They looked shocked for a moment.

"I'm assuming your parents are imprints?" he asked casually.

I nodded. "Yes. Carlisle became a wolf and imprinted on Esme. A few days later she changed too. I'm surprised to hear you have so many imprints, but none of the actual imprints are in your pack. Why is that?" I asked him. He looked surprised.

"When you imprint, you're imprints change into wolves?" he asked, astonished.

I nodded. "Of course, it's tradition. That's why we had four packs at home; there were so many of us. We were more spread out to protect the area we lived in better." I informed him. He shook his head.

"If you will agree not to fight with the pack and live peacefully in this realm, we will not cause any harm to your pack." he said, trying to sound authoritive. He sounded like a newborn pup.

"Good. Will we see you at the monthly ritual?" I asked him before he turned to leave.

"Monthly ritual?" he asked, confused. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Yes, pup, monthly ritual. The one all wolves are supposed to partake in. It's no wonder none of you have your bands yet!" I scoffed. Sam looked offended for a moment and began to shake.

"Oh, stop shaking pup. Learn some real control before you try to become a real leader. All leaders must have solid control, and should know the basics." I told him. He looked slightly abashed and still looked mad, but the trembling had stopped.

"Alright, O' Wise One. Explain this monthly ritual." he said, crossing his arms.

_What a pup_ I thought. "The monthly ritual is when all members of the pack must go up to a craggy peak of some sort, or an open field, and give thanks to the moon for her support and help. Also, it is a time for discussions, arrangements, and for new additions to any pack to receive their training bands. Each ritual is on the night of the full moon. We will give thanks on the cliffs overhanging the ocean. Will you be joining us to receive your training bands?" I asked them.

Sam thought about it for a moment, and then bowed respectfully, saying "Yes, we shall. We do not know these strange rituals, but we would like to learn from them, and receive these 'training bands' from you. I'm guessing you move up rank by rank through the bands?" he asked.

I nodded, saying "Yes. The band colors go black, brown, purple, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, pink, red, white, and finally you get a power-band with your symbol etched into it. Each individual wolf has their own special symbol. The power band is the highest ranking band any wolf can get. It makes them a legend; a hero of sorts. No power band wearer has ever been defeated. They've only died when they decided their time should be over. On my next birthday, I will have to go back to the South to be inspected by a power band holder in order to possibly receive the next band." I told him.

To say he looked shocked would be an understatement. After a moment he nodded and said "See you at the ritual."

I nodded and ran back into the trees with my sisters. They shifted and got dressed. Once they were dressed, Alice turned to me.

"Hey Maddie, when do you think I'll get my green band? She asked me. I smiled at her.

"Soon. Your skills have improved since your last assessment. Maybe this year, or maybe the next, but either way, very soon." She smiled at me. I smiled back and hugged her.

"I think you'll get your orange band soon too. None of the wolves stand a chance against you." she said. I grinned at her.

"You think Rose will get her yellow band, and Bella her green band too?" she asked. I nodded.

"In five years, we'll be able to say proudly that we have gone up a band level. Whether we all move up sooner or later I don't know, but it won't be too long now." I told her, smiling. She smiled back.

Right then, Seth came nosing through the bushes in wolf form. I laid a hand on his shoulder in a comforting way as he stood beside me. He lied down on the forest floor and gestured to his back with his muzzle. I sighed and rolled my eyes, but otherwise sat on his back. How dramatic. I could hear the Underworld background music now. Absentmindedly I began to hum it. I heard Seth chuckling beneath me. He stood and began to lope through the trees in the direction of my house. After a few minutes, I saw the lights from inside and grinned. Home.

Seth loped over to the front door and I slid off his back as he ran into the woods. A moment later he came back in a pair of cut-offs. I smiled and led him inside. I could already smell Esme making dinner in the kitchen. I sniffed the air appreciatively and sat down on the sofa with Seth. After a moment Alice, Bella, and Rose came through the door. They were talking about their bands. As they were going upstairs, I turned to Seth.

"So are you excited to get your band?" I asked him.

"I'm still confused about this whole band thing. Enlighten me." he said.

Sighing, I explained. "A wolf is supposed to wear a band on their wrist so that people know they're protectors. The color of the band shows how strong they are, and how powerful. The wolves with power-bands have magic, but they won't tell anyone when they gained it, so whether it was during the time of their power-band or earlier we don't know. They are the strongest of us all, and nothing can oppose them. Even though there are so many of us, we have so far been undiscovered, though we expect that not to last. A wolf's job is that when they receive their yellow bands, they are to travel the world and learn as much as they can.

"Learning is the only way they can really study. The only way they become stronger. They travel the world to learn from other packs of wolves; fighting styles, techniques, traditions, legends... everything. Even the languages they speak. So, since I am a yellow band, I have begun my travels, taking my blue band sisters with me. Rose is a green band, so she's practically getting advanced studying. When our birthday comes, we will all go back together for an assessment. If we pass, we are moved up a color band. The higher color rank you are, the less people that will dare to challenge you.

"We came here to study your culture of werewolf-ism, and were upset by how basic and childlike it was. Apparently no one has explained the rules to all of you. We are here to take care of that. The teaching of all of you will help boost my way to orange band, and Rosalie's to yellow, so we are happy to teach. Also, training my sisters' new imprints will boost our way. It's a learning experience. Anyways, you will all begin with black bands, and you shall meet with us higher bands every day for training, plus keeping up your patrols. It's hard work, both those who try hardest and succeed in their learning will move up to brown bands.

"And no, even though you are my friend, you will not receive any special training or help when you get tired. You will work like the rest of them, but shall be rewarded greatly. Even then, through all the hard and pain of training to be a wolf, you must keep up your human facade and you must exceed in your studies. The lowest tolerated grade in any class is an A-, so I suggest you reconsider how important school is. For those out of school, we will test their work and/or college. You cannot drop out of this practice once you begin it, unless you are going to forever quite being a werewolf. Where I come from, you had to earn the right to call yourself a werewolf."

I explained it as best I could, and repeated what my mentor had told me when I was getting ready to go to my first monthly ritual to earn my black band and begin my training, still a kit. Seth sat there lost in thought for a moment before he slowly nodded his head and began to smile. I was about to ask him what that was about when he spoke.

"I'll grow stronger, smarter, and more powerful than the others. I won't be teased if I rise in the ranks with them; I'll be accepted, even being the youngest. It's a dream come true." he said. I smiled at him and when I heard a plate being set on the kitchen table I grabbed his hand and pulled him into the kitchen.

Esme had set out all the food, and it looked like enough to feed a football team. Smiling, I sat with Seth at my side. I saw Alice come downstairs and take one look at the kitchen table before her ears perked. Mine did too; tires coming down the driveway. Alice squealed for Rose and Bella and they came flying down the stairs.

I didn't need to ask who was here; it was their imprints. Invited over just for a short dinner and then for project buddies. I didn't even want to begin guessing how they got their partners the way they did. I sighed.

Seth looked over at me and raised an eyebrow.

"Don't talk about anything that has to do with werewolves or the packs, nor our bands. Nothing in relation. They aren't to know anything until the moment they change, not even that they're imprints, okay?" I asked him. He nodded in understanding. A moment later, I heard the front door open and close. Then the six teenagers came in and sat down.

We all immediately began to dig in, we wolf girls scarfing down more than Seth. Everyone talked casually about sports, school, colleges, blah blah blah. I didn't pay attention that much. My attention kept becoming divided between Seth and my food. Throughout the entire time he kept making silly faces at me, using his food. He had two baby carrots, and he stuck them in his teeth so they were hanging down like vampire fangs. I nearly narfed my drink! When I'd finally eaten my fill and I noticed Seth was done, we got up and excused ourselves. We ran upstairs to my room, laughing.

We went all the way up to my room and when I opened the door I grinned. I loved my room.

My room was so different from the others' rooms. My carpet was green and brown like the forest floor, and all the furniture was made of dark wood that we'd carved ourselves. The walls were painted in various mixtures of browns and greens in swirling patterns, and then there was my favorite part. Wolves were painted all over my room; each with their own band on their legs. They were all my wolf friends from back home, of the Sand pack, along with my family's pack of the Shifting Colors. There was still plenty of space between them though for more additions.

I sighed and flopped down on my bed. Seth walked around my room looking at the paintings of all the wolves on the wall. "All these are real wolves?" he asked.

"Yes, from the ShiftingColors pack back home. We were the largest and most advanced pack; the most powerful." I said. He looked around in awe.

"There's so many of them." he commented. I nodded silently. After a moment he grinned and came running towards my bed, flopping down on it next to me, laughing. I laughed with him as the bed bounced from the shifted weight.

Seth and I sat up and spent a while talking about the most random things, from motorcycles, to pizza, to music, to why the sky is blue. This kid was always in such chipper spirits, and he said the weirdest things. I swear I'd never laughed more in my life. After talking for a while, I heard a distant howl, but I didn't recognize it. Seth perked up his ears and said "I gotta go."

He hopped off my bed and started walking out the door. I waved to him when he turned around. "Bye Seth; see ya at school." He waved too and ran out the door and down the hall. Sighing, I hopped off my bed and went to my desk, sitting in the chair in front of it. I opened up my bottom desk drawer and pulled everything out of it, setting it on my desk. I reached to the back and felt around for the lever. Finding it, I pushed it down and the bottom of the drawer popped up and open.

I reached into the dusty confines of the hidden empty bottom of the drawer and reached to the back, pulling on the chain I had hidden back there. I pulled out the chain with the charm on the end and sat back in my chair, staring at it.

The chain was simple, but it was a flex chain, meaning if I was wearing this necklace and was to suddenly shift, it would stretch with my body. Even then, the chain was uber long, so the actual charm hung to my abdomen. The charm itself was a specialized mood necklace, one that was made just for me by the power-band holder back home. It was to warn other wolves when they were pushing things too far.

The charm shape was that of a wolf, running. It was a gorgeous charm, but I hadn't yet worn it. The power band holder told me not to start wearing it until I began my world-wide learning, my travels. Now that the time has begun, I needed to start wearing it. I smiled. I had always admired this necklace; I loved it. I slipped the chain loop over my head and held the charm for a moment, staring at it. Right now it was dark blue; calm.

I smiled and began putting my stuff back in the open drawer. Once I was done, I changed into my pajamas and turned out my light, climbing into bed with my necklace still on. I was to never take it off, no matter what. Smiling, I slept peacefully and until the wee hours of the morning.


	3. Temper Time

**_ Alright, Third Chappy is all set. Please enjoy and review! Comments are the best thing to keep me writing :D_  
**

* * *

**MPOV**

I yawned hugely as I awoke, and was surprised Alice wasn't in here to wake me this morning. Confused, I glanced at my alarm clock and noticed with a sigh that it was 5:43. What the hell? I never woke up this early, and especially not so refreshed! Shaking my head, I sighed and got up to take a shower. Once I felt clean, fresh, and smelled like vanilla, I stepped out and dried off. I quickly blow-dried my hair and brushed through it. In my towel, I walked back into my room and to my closet, looking for an outfit for today. I sighed when I found it; it was _perfect_ for today.

I picked out the pair of black skinny jeans that I loved, a sparkling silver sequin top, and my favorite black and silver converse shoes. I slipped into the clothes, sighing as the fabric settled into place. _Perfectly comfortable...and adorable_ I added as an after-thought. Grinning, I went back to the bathroom to do my hair. I decided to throw it up into a high ponytail on my head with a few bangs on the side of my face.

My makeup consisted of light sparkly silver eye shadow, mascara, and eyeliner. I, obviously, wore my necklace, and I also wore my yellow band on my left wrist. Smiling and content, I left my bathroom and looked at my room. _Messy messy..._ I thought, trailing off with a grin spreading on my face. Using the extra speed being a werewolf gave me, I made my bed, organized all my stuff, and had everything tidied up so much it didn't look real. Smiling, I skipped over to my desk and sat in my chair.

After a minute I heard Alice running up the stairs from her floor to mine. Then I had to wonder; why did she always wake me first? Why not Rose? Smirking, I stood up and went to stand in the center of my room, facing the door. I crossed my arms and stood there, tapping my foot as I waited for Alice to open the door.

She quietly creaked open my door and began to walk in. She froze and yelped in surprise when she saw me standing there waiting for her. She put a hand over her heart and took a few deep breaths.

"Jesus Maddie, you scared the living shit out of me!" she said. I laughed at her.

"That's my job." I told her, grinning. I quickly ran out the door past her and down to Bella's door. Hearing her sleeping soundly, I whispered to Alice "Go wake Rose; I'll wake Bella." I told her.

She grinned, seeing me getting my pranking face on. She stifled laughter as she ran down the hall to the stairs. This would be fun...

I creaked open Bella's door to see her lying in bed, asleep, cuddling a pillow. I giggled quietly. I slunk over to her bed and stood right next to her head. I was right next to her ear. I was breathing lightly on it, and it was catching her unconscious attention. Grinning, I took a deep breath, and...

"PPPAARRTTYYYYYY!" I screamed into her ear as loudly as I could. She yelled loudly in surprise and jumped so high from shock that she seriously almost hit the ceiling. Then she fell off the other side of the bed. She got up with a dazed look on her face, shook her head back and forth, and said in a suddenly alert voice "Shaken not stirred!"

I couldn't take it anymore. I busted into laughter. I fell to the floor, clutching my stomach and tried to get the laughter to subside. Every time I tried I had to think of why and that just brought on an entire new round. After probably ten minutes of hysterical laughter, I got up and wiped the tears from my eyes. I walked out of Bella's room shaking my head at her confused look. I could hear Alice and Rose still cracking up downstairs.

I made my way to the kitchen and was unsurprised to see Esme standing there cooking up a huge buffet. I smiled; what would we do without her?

I tried to offer my help, but as always she said no. Shrugging, I sat down and began to eat what was already there. By the time I finished the girls were only halfway done. Shaking my head, I told them I'd be waiting for them outside.

I walked silently out the front door and over to the garage where my BoomBaby was sitting. Purring, I stroked the side of my baby. I heard a twig snap and reached out with my werewolf senses. I already had a feeling what it was.

"Seth..." I growled lowly, but just loud enough for him to hear. A moment later he came jogging out of the trees in a plain gray t-shirt and a pair of cut-offs, grinning from ear to ear. I pretended to glare at him, but made sure it looked genuine.

"You interrupted my quality time with the BoomBaby." I accused him. He shrugged his shoulders at me and smiled. I still glared.

"Sorry, make out with your BoomBaby at a time when you're alone; no audience wants to watch _that_." He said, scrunching up his nose in pretend disgust.

I snorted. "I was alone until you came here." I muttered under my breath, knowing he'd catch it. He grinned at me.

"I'm sorry for interrupting your alone time; would you like me to leave?" he asked, feigning submission and sadness.

Now it was my turn to grin. "But then I'd have no one to ride the BoomBaby to school with me; I might get cold." I taunted, pretending to wrap my arms around myself as if I was cold. Seth laughed and ran up to me, giving me a bone-crushing werewolf hug. It felt nice to be hugged like this again. I laughed and hugged him back as he swung me around. When he sat me back down on my feet, we were both grinning brightly.

Right then, the girls came out the door, yelling a quick goodbye to Esme. Alice, Rose, and Bella looked surprised to see Seth here, but didn't comment on it. We hopped on our bikes and they fired to life. Seth hopped eagerly onto the back of mine and wrapped his well-muscled arms around my slender waist tightly. I laughter loudly as we sped out of the garage and down the driveway at speeds that would be impossible for humans.

Seth whooped for joy, raising one fist in the air. I smiled and laughed with him. We sped all the way to school, only slowing once we neared the parking lot. We pulled in and saw with relief that the two spots we put our bikes in yesterday were once again empty. We all pulled in and hopped off. Seth leaned against the car parked next to us and I leaned against my bike.

"You got pretty cocky on the way here; only holding on with one arm. I was tempted to speed up so you would land face-first in the dirt." I snickered.

As Alice passed she muttered "You should have." She cracked a grin and we all laughed. Right then the bell telling us to go to class rang; good timing. Smiling, I made my way to first hour. As expected, Mike the golden retriever came up, asking to walk with me. How can I say no? We're kinda going to the same class. Sighing in annoyance, I walked and listened to him talk and talk.

When we got outside of class, I turned to him and asked "Hey Mike, do you know Jessica Stanley? You both talk so much I'm sure you'd get along with each other just fine." I said, patting his head with fake cheerfulness before going inside. I took my seat beside Angela and she gave me a knowing glance.

"Mike?" she asked.

I nodded, feeling a headache coming on. I leaned forward, laying my head down on my desk. The coolness of the desk was refreshing. When Miss Wible called the class to order, I was already feeling better. The lesson went by fairly eventless, though I knew the rest of the day wouldn't be this simple. Sighing, I stood up and began to walk towards the door. As I opened it, the bell rang and I smirked.

Going down the hallways, I went to Pre-Calc and stifled a groan, remembering I had to sit by Jessica. She babbled on and on during the lesson, never slowing down her speedy talking. The most common word in her entire speech was 'like', which I could only take so much of. I was counting down the seconds until the bell rang. When it did I breathed a sigh of relief. History time.

I entered History and smiled when I saw Jasper already sitting there. He may be my sister's imprint, but he was also definitely a nice reprieve from Jessica and Mike. I sat down beside him and he automatically turned my direction, that small smile on his lips. I grinned at him and asked "Hey Jazz, how're things?"

"Pretty good, and yourself?" he asked.

I shrugged "Same old, same old. Any raging tempers between you and your buddies?" I pretended to tease, pointing to my mood necklace. He rolled his eyes and then stopped, thinking it over.

"Actually, yeah. Edward pissed off Emmett yesterday and it almost turned into a fight. The only problem is that it was something Emmett would usually tease to Edward, so I'm not sure why it bugged him so much." he said, scrunching his eyebrows. I gave him a sympathetic look.

"You'll find out soon enough." I said quietly. He heard me.

"How do you know?" he asked, suddenly suspicious.

I grinned at him. "Let's just say I'm kind of the expert on these things. If you don't know by the end of the week, then you can say I was wrong. However, I guarantee that you'll know before the week is over." I said, patting his shoulder. His face held mixed emotions. Before he could ask any more, the teacher called the class to order and he turned with a sigh. I smirked slightly and spent the rest of the hour paying little attention to the lesson. I wonder how many of the signs have already shown...

It's entirely possible that the two could've phased last night, right then and there. I sighed inwardly. This could be baaddd. What if they phased at school? Shit.

I glanced over at Jasper, finding him completely calm. I sighed in relief and focused on the lesson. One of the perks and downfalls of being a werewolf; you were smart, but you had to stay that way. Besides, repeating high school and college so often meant you had to repeat the same things over and over. While it was easy, it was also incredibly boring. When the bell rang I waved farewell to Jasper and went quickly to my next class.

When I got in I sat down and sighed. Alice and Bella came in a moment later, with Rose close behind them. When they all sat down I noticed they didn't seem as worried as I did.

"Did you guys hear about how Edward and Emmett got in a fight yesterday?" Rose asked us. We all nodded our heads. I sighed.

"If they had pissed each other off just a little bit more, they might've phased. And what's worse is that since their tempers are already really high, they could phase in school." I told them. They all suddenly looked glum.

I sighed and said "We need to find a way to excuse them from school if it starts to get out of hand. That might be today, tomorrow, or the next day. We need to keep a very close eye on them." I told them. They nodded at me.

"Should we pull them out of school today anyways, just in case?" Alice asked. I thought about it for a moment.

"Maybe. Pull all of us out and go somewhere away from humans, and then get them riled up? Make them mad; talk about their fight yesterday! Get them angry at us for bringing it up and for yelling at them about it!" I said, grinning. It's perfect.

Alice and Rose nodded her head. Bella looked unsure.

"Do we want to force their change this early?" she asked. I nodded.

"If we don't force it ourselves, it'll probably happen when they're around normal humans. People could get hurt that way. We need to do this ourselves." I said firmly.

"When?" Rose asked.

"Today. After lunch. I'll go to the office and call Esme, and she'll excuse all seven of us. She understands, and the office won't be able to fight with her. Deal?" I asked. Three heads nodded.

"Okay. I'm gonna go call her now and tell her to excuse us all after lunch. Don't tell the guys yet; tell them to follow you guys to the parking lot when we get excused. We'll meet up there." I told them. We all nodded our heads and I got up to go talk to the teacher about going to the office. She gave me a hall pass and I left the classroom.

I walked down the small hallways to the tiny office with the same ancient woman sitting behind the desk. I went up to lean on her desk and waited for her to notice me.

She looked up through her spectacles "Yes dear? What can I do for you?" she asked. I almost rolled my eyes.

"I'd like to call my mother, Esme Cullen, if you please." I told her. She nodded and gestured towards the phone in the corner of the room. I walked over to it and started dialing the number. After the first ring she picked up the phone.

"Cullen residence, Esme speaking."

"Hiya mom." I told her.

"Hi sweety! Any problems?" she asked me. That was code for 'Any almost-shifts'.

"Not yet, but I think Emmett and Edward have fevers, and Jasper is worried. I was hoping you could let us take them home and help them feel better." I asked her. She knew what I really meant. We only talked in code because the school had people listening in on our call.

"Of course I'll excuse you all. After lunch I assume?" she asked.

"Yes, that would be perfect. Oh! Could you also excuse Seth Clearwater? He's a friend of mine and I know he would be a big help with this." I told her.

"Sure thing. Alright, I'll talk to the school. I'll see you at home dearie, bye." she said.

"Bye mom." I said and hung up. I then turned to smile at the old lady before leaving the office to go back to my free class. When I got back inside I handed the hall pass back to the teacher and grabbed my stuff. The others stood up with me. Three seconds later, the bell rang. Grinning, we made our way to the cafeteria. We got the usual tray full of food and made our way to the back table where we sat yesterday. A moment later, the four boys joined us.

We ate for a while, chatting quietly as us girls gave the three guys nervous glances. Seth noticed and raised an eyebrow at me. I held both of my hands in fists in front of my chest and made them pop open so the palms faced out, my hands spreading apart to the sides. Seth knew what I meant. Some people would think I meant something was going to blow up or explode. Well, it's kind of the same.

"When?" Seth asked me casually. He was pretending we had been talking the whole time.

'Right after lunch; we got Esme to excuse us." I told him quietly. He nodded his head and then pointed to himself. I nodded. He grinned at me and mouthed 'thanks'.

I nodded again with a smile and finished eating. We threw our trash away when the bell rang, the signal to go class. We got to class and sat in our seats and waited for class to start. Miss Strouth got up and said "Now today, we will be doing ske-" Beep. The intercom turned on.

"Miss Strouth, could you please send Madelyn Cullen and Seth Clearwater to the office ready to leave?" Mr. Carlton, the principal asked.

"They'll be right there." she answered. The intercom beeped off. Grinning, Seth and I left class together. Once the door closed behind us we started quietly laughing. We made our way to the office where the others had gathered. Mr. Carlton stood there.

"We got a call saying you were all released for the day and that you should be able to drive yourselves home. See you tomorrow kids." he said, nodding as he went back to his office. We led the way back to the parking lot, and Emmett didn't speak until we got to the cars.

"Okay, what the hell is going on?" he asked, fed up. I rolled my eyes and turned to stare him down.

"We need to talk; all of us. Get in your car and follow us. Seth, you'll be on my bike. Let's go." I told them, leaving no room for argument. The boys hopped into a monster jeep while we hopped onto our bikes. Seth hopped on behind me as my bike fired to life. We pulled out with the guys behind us. We veered left, back towards our house, and Seth tightened his arms around me. He didn't like this.

We pulled up to our house and put our bikes in the garage while Emmett parked the jeep behind us. We hopped off the bikes and without a word, started walking towards the woods. The boys hesitantly followed us. We reached the cover of the trees and continued to walk for another ten minutes before we stopped in a small shady clearing, the trees overhanging. We stopped and we four girls perched together on a boulder off to the side. Seth stood next to us. The boys waited hesitantly in the middle of the clearing. We stared at them, and they stared back. I snorted quietly. They looked scared.

Seth snorted quietly beside me and cracked a small grin, but it quickly disappeared. We gazed intently at the three boys until Jasper asked "Why are we here?"


	4. Facing the Wrath of an Alpha

**_Everyone enjoying this so far? I hope so! Keep reading, don't forget to review, and... well, I guess that's it :)_  
**

* * *

**MPOV**

I hopped off of the boulder. "Good question. It had the intelligence level of a five-year old." I told him. He narrowed his eyes at me and my eyes were daring him to contradict me. He let it slide, but he was obviously not pleased.

"The reason you are here is because we heard some very upsetting news concerning yesterday." I told them, slowly walking in a circle around them. Jasper narrowed his eyes dangerously at me and ground his teeth together. Wow, temperamental aren't we?

Alice spoke and hopped off the boulder, walking our way. "Wow Jasper; two small comments and you're already on edge. My my my, what ever are we going to do about that temper of yours?" Alice asked, though I knew she was teasing. Jasper began to tremble slightly.

Bella hopped off the boulder, walking our way. She stopped beside me and said "Now Edward, what provoked your little tussle yesterday? I wouldn't consider it real fighting, since you don't know how to fight. Tell me what provoked you idiots to turn on each other like pups in a dog house." she asked snidely. I smirked slightly, and I knew Edward caught it. He glared menacingly at me.

"I was only teasing him, but he had to get all defensive and then it got personal. And that is none of your business." he almost yelled at us.

"Uh huh." I said, pretending to be uncaringly calm. "And what about you Emmett? Were you being overly defensive or just being a sissy?" I asked him. He un-knowingly began to growl quietly and I noticed him tremble. His trembling began to get worse; only another minute and he would phase. I turned back to Jasper.

"If it was so bad Jassy, why didn't you try to stop it before they fought? We're you _scared_ of getting your fingernails dirty? Afraid you'd mess up your hair?" I asked him. He began to shake violently. He and Emmett would phase any moment. Now to drop the bomb.

"You know Edward, it's pretty sad when a guy can't fight. It's even worse when he decides to go up against a girl, and _loses_. I bet you mother would be so proud of you." I sneered. They all shook violently now, and we all took two steps back and when their shaking got so bad that we knew they couldn't see, we ran to cover to strip and phase.

We came back out where Seth was already phased and waited. We waited side-by-side, and a moment later, we heard and saw three simultaneous explosions. The three boys had exploded into werewolves, and were now looking around in confusion. When they saw us they all backed up. The jumble of their thoughts in their heads was probably unbearable, so I ordered _Silence!_ and it got quiet.

_Look down at your feet._ I told them. They looked down to see not their feet, but their front paws. They turned in circles, trying to get a better view of themselves.

_Think through my mind. Look through my eyes; it's much easier._ I told them. Suddenly their attention became focused on my thoughts, which was focused on their new wolf forms.

Edward had turned into a bronze wolf with large paws that he had yet to grow into. Emmett and Jasper had yet to grow into their paws yet either. Emmett was slightly larger than the other two though, and he was a dark gray. Jasper was the color of honey, much like his hair. They stood next to each other, completely confused.

_Maddie, is that you?_ Edward asked tentatively in his thoughts. I nodded my large head at him.

_Yes. You guys are now werewolves, or I suppose shape-shifters. Welcome to the Shifting Colors pack; I am your Alpha._ I told them. They all nodded their big heads. I proceeded through my head, telling them all about the bands and monthly ritual that I had told the Quileute pack last night. I also told them about the Quileute pack, and Seth offered information. When I mentioned imprints all their ears pricked up. I laughed aloud.

_What's so funny?_ Jazz asked me.

_I say 'Imprint' and you guys suddenly sit up straighter. You don't even know what imprinting is!_ I told them, barking a laugh.

_Alright, then tell us. What is imprinting? _Emmett asked me, sitting back on his haunches. The others sat down too.

_Imprinting is when a werewolf finds their soul mate. When they do, that person becomes a wolf like them. You three were imprinted upon._ I told them. Their heads swiveled slightly so that they were looking at the three girls who stood off to the side. I calmed my thoughts to nothingness to try to ignore them for a minute but caught onto Seth's thoughts.

_I wonder if she'll notice? You'd think it would work both ways._ he sighed. I swiveled my head towards him questionably and he avoided my gaze. I wonder what that's all about? I shook my head and sighed. I thought back to lunch yesterday when I met the kid. That weird twinkle in his eyes. It wasn't- no, no it couldn't have been. I'm just imagining it, right? Right, imagination, thinking things over too much. He probably just misses his friends. Yeah, that's it.

Satisfied, I turned my attention back towards the lovey-dovey imprints. They all just sat there, staring at each other. Alice, ever the impatient one, leaped into the air to land in front of Jasper and started rubbing her side against his. He rubbed back and laid his neck on her back, humming softly. The others soon got caught up in similar embraces. Rolling my eyes, I trotted over to them.

_Alright love birds, you guys can make goo-goo eyes at each other later. We need to explain some of the basics and send you guys home. We girls have to make a phone call._ I told them. They all looked upset. I rolled my eyes again.

_Fine. I'll explain the basics and I'LL make the phone call while you guys hang around._ I grumbled. Suddenly they were all frolicking. Such pups. Everyone sat in a circle on their haunches, Seth on my left and Rose on my right.

_Now, as a werewolf there are a few basic rules. The most important is for no one, and I mean no one, to find out that you're a werewolf. Only other werewolves must know. Secondly, you must keep your tempers under control!_ I pushed my Alpha tenor onto this one; they had to understand. It was a direct order for them to remain calm. Their knees all wobbled a little from the force of the command. All except Seth, who wasn't in the pack.

_Otherwise, you must simply stay out of sight from humans when shifted, do not pick fights, and grades must be a minimum of A-. You must be at every monthly ritual (no exceptions) and you must train with the other wolves every day after school. We will, however, call school and arrange for one day in the middle of the week for you to be allowed to take off to catch up on sleep, homework, and training. You will have to do patrols like everyone else in this pack, around the perimeter of Forks. It will be tiring work at first, but under our training and rituals, you will get used to it and become stronger._

_Do not listen to the wolves of the other pack when they tell you to do something, such as an errand or run perimeter. It is your choice to decide what is right for you to do. If I say so, however, you must obey. Training will be every afternoon after school gets out, on the rez border most likely. All wolves will train during this time for a duration of three hours before they must leave for patrols, work, food, sleep, and so on and so forth. After probably six months of this hard training, you will become used to it and be stronger than you can ever imagine._

_You won't look it though. You see how I look? I'm stronger than every one of you. Who thinks they can take me on?_ I asked them. Emmett volunteered. He was grinning, thinking _I'll go easy on her._

_No Emmett, don't go easy on me. I want you to go for the kill; forget who I am and try to kill me. See how far you get pup._ I told him. He growled at me menacingly and everyone backed away on either side to give us plenty of space.

I stood in my stance, with my legs slightly bent and my muzzle down low to the ground. Emmett began charging at me and jumped to pounce on me. I dropped to the ground and rolled sideways and then twisted up into the air so I was spinning, paw out. I struck Emmett across the flank as he landed on the ground and landed on his other side. Instead of jumping on him, I jumped back a step and then sat down, my back to him.

I heard him get up and face me, and heard as he stealthily snuck up behind me. He had a paw out, about to lash me, when I slid my feet out from under me and nailed him in the gut with my back paws. I pulled them back and flipped over backwards so I landed on Emmett's back and I pushed on a spot just above his right shoulder and forced him to the ground beneath me. The match was over within thirty seconds of it beginning. After a few seconds I got up and took two steps back from Emmett, my head held high.

I heard one paw being set down right behind me and knew immediately the size from the vibrations it set off, even if the paw drop was silent. I jumped straight up in the air and spun as I jumped with my paw straight out and caught whoever was behind me right in the face. I then landed and jumped sideways before the two could trap me. The attacker had been Jasper. I feigned to the left and then ran to the right; they followed me and tried to head me off.

I slid to a stop and back-flipped over Emmett's head, spiraling as I came down to Earth and as I landed I slid his paws out from under him. I then grabbed his tail and spun him in a defensive circle around me, trying to be somewhat gentle while still causing Jasper to stay away. I released him so he flew into where Jasper was standing, but Jasper quickly jumped out of the way. While he was jumping out of the way, I was jumping to where he would land. As he landed, I knocked right into him.

He fell back with a huff next to Emmett. My ears perked slightly as I heard Edward walk up right behind me. I used my speed to dash forward and jumped on Emmett's rising back, launching myself in a back-flip so I landed on Edward's back. I dug my claws into his fur and twisted so that he was forced to the ground. I pulled away and grinned wolfishly. The boys looked surprised.

_And to think I went easy on you_. I told them smugly. The girls knew I went easy on them too. They all mentally shuddered at the thought of me actually trying to attack the boys. The boys got to their feet quickly and turned to face me, teeth bared in a snarl. I bared my teeth right back. Suddenly a random thought popped into Edward's head as he noticed I was wearing a necklace. I sat down and the stone still didn't change color. I didn't expect it to.

Edward cautiously sat and asked _Why are you wearing a necklace?_

I took a deep breath. _Because I'm supposed to. It's a mood necklace, and the power__-__band holder back home told me to wear it while on my travels. It's to warn other wolves of when I'm being pushed too far._ I told him. He nodded in understanding.

_Anyways, you must obey all rules. I'll go make the phone call now while you all do whatever. The monthly ritual is a week from now. I will expect all of you back here in this clearing tonight at 9pm for your patrols. I have to go visit La Push. See you later pups._ I said, turning on heel and sprinting through the thick trees towards home. I could sense Seth following me back, and I considered ignoring his presence and simply blasting off towards home.

With a sigh I slowed enough for him to catch up, matching his pace when he was by my side. He glanced over at me and grinned wolfishly and I grinned right back. As we got closer to the house, I could vaguely begin to smell Esme's scent, along with the smell of her marvelous cooking. I inhaled deeply and ran straight out of the thick forest and into the meadow surrounding our home. I grinned as I trotted up the front porch steps on my large paws.

I noticed that the front door was open with only the screen door as a boundary. Confused, I opened it silently and stuck my nose inside inquisitively. I could smell Esme's cooking and Esme herself, but I could also smell another scent. Someone was here.

I sniffed once more, deeper, and immediately recognized the scent. Sam.

What was he doing here?

I pushed open the screen door a little more with my nose and walked right on inside in wolf form. With a glance at the living room, I nodded in satisfaction and trotted up the stairs towards my room. Upon reaching it, I pushed open my door. I let the cool feeling rush over me as I jumped up into the air, feeling my body shifting from powerful beast back to young human girl. I sighed as I felt the feeling of a human body again.

I missed my paws already.

I quickly got dressed in a pair of denim shorts and a red t-shirt, jogging back down the stairs and into the living room where I knew Sam would be waiting. As I walked through the open archway that led to the living room, I barely had time to duck down to the ground before a hand grabbed at my throat. I ducked below the hand and landed on my knees. I quickly got into a slight crouch and spun around in a circle using my arms, stretching out my legs and ramming them into the legs of the person who tried to grab my throat. They fell backwards and I sprung to my feet before they could, my hand on their throat warningly.

I stared into the coal black eyes of Sam, his gaze lethal. I gazed back without emotion for a moment before releasing my hold on his neck and taking a step back, my expression guarded.

Sam quickly got up off the floor and stared me down for a moment before he turned around and walked back to one of the couches, leaning against the arm rest and gazing at me, guarding his emotions as well.

I walked to rest against the arm rest of the chair opposite him and stared him down for a few seconds before asking in a solid voice "Why are you here?"

Sam glared slightly, whether he meant to or not, and replied "I came to look for one of my wolves; Leah was worried about where Seth disappeared off to." he said.

I nodded calmly, and said with an evenly calm tone "I understand her concern, however if any of you have shifted lately you would have noticed he's been running around over here for a while. You should be able to keep better track of your pack, Sam." His face hardened at my words, though my tone was very calm and precise, not at all scolding.

He nodded after a moment of silence and said "I suppose we shall have to work on that. I'll be taking him back home now, if you don't mind." he said, waiting for my response. I felt my eyes tighten slightly, and noticed my skin getting warmer. The necklace would begin to change colors soon.

"You shouldn't order a pack member on where he must go and what he must do unless it is during patrol, inspection, training, or a crisis. I'm assuming it's none of those. Your pack members should be free to do what they please unless on duty. Any actions they make off duty that causes problems is their responsibility and they must handle the consequences, however it is their right to decide for themselves." I told him, my tone quiet but menacing. He could easily hear the warning in my voice.

His eyes tightened and I could see a shimmer run down his spine as he responded, trying to keep him tone even. "I will decide what is and isn't right for my pack. Seth and I are leaving. Enjoy your evening." he said, turning and beginning to walk out of the room, his muscles tense.

"Oh, and by the way Sam." I called after him. He stopped and turned to look at me. "I have three new additions to my pack, and they will join us at the monthly ritual to begin their training. I'll see you there." I told him, before turning and walking out of a door from the living room that led away from Sam and into the kitchen where I knew Esme was listening in as she cooked.

Sure enough, she was stirring some mashed potatoes when I walked in with a frown on her face. Esme never frowns when she cooks; she always smiles. After a moment of stirring, Esme laid her spoon down and turned to me, her eyes sad.

"Just imagine living in a pack where all your movements are being watched, and you can't do hardly anything except follow orders. It's just... sad." she said, frowning. After a moment she sighed.

I frowned. It was hard to imagine such a thing, and harder to realize that the Quileute wolves must live that every day. I sighed and ran a hand through my long reddish brown hair, contemplating it. After a moment I turned to Esme and watched her cook some more food for our monster appetites.

She glanced over at me again out of the corner of her eye as she put seasoning on some salmon and asked "Any idea where the girls are?" I nodded and smiled slightly; Esme was always watching out for her daughters.

"They're spending some time with their imprints, who shifted early this afternoon. Shall I go fetch them for dinner?" I asked her. She nodded with a smile.

"Thank you Maddie; that would be wonderful. I don't want to have to leave the stove." she said. I nodded in understanding and turned to the sliding glass doors, opening them and stepping outside before shutting it softly behind me.

I loped quickly into the surrounding forest and quickly stripped, phasing and landing on all four paws with giddy satisfaction. The feeling of being back on my own four paws never seemed to get old. It always made me happy.

I stretched out my minds to the others and came up silent. They had shifted back. I shrugged my massive shoulders; I would simply have to track them. I loped at a pleasant pace through the trees. After a minute of pleasant jogging, I crossed Sam's scent.

I sniffed it closer and knew it was going from our home back outwards, but it was going in the opposite direction of the reservation. Puzzled, I followed the scent with slow and careful steps for a moment, trying to get a feel for Sam's emotions as he ran through here.

One of the many wonders of tracking by scent; emotion. When someone runs through an area, they leave their scent. On that scent, is whatever emotion they had. Fear, worry, anger, joy, and even tranquility. If you were smart and experienced enough with scents, you could figure this out simply by smelling the different flavors in one's scent. That's what I was doing as I padded along slowly.

I could definitely smell Sam's anger; he was enraged. Probably from our discussion, I concluded. However, I noticed the scent lead in a direct path one way, and the paw prints left behind were heavy but spread apart, as if powerful bounds were used to hurry through the underbrush. He was racing towards something.

_Or giving chase_ another part of me thought. With a tinge of fear and worry, I leaped forward in one powerful bound and began to run, following Sam's scent deep into the thick woods, towards the Olympian mountain range. As I began to get closer to the base of the mountain, I noticed Sam's tracks often veering one way and another, as if someone had been trying to thrown him off. I stuck my nose to the ground as I ran and found his scent covering up another easily recognizable scent, one laced with fear.

_Seth_. I thought, and I bounded forward again, my speed almost doubled from my average run, my worry and determination propelling me forward. As I followed the trail, I noticed the scent becoming more and more powerful. Much of this scent was new; not five minutes ago they ran through here. I pushed myself harder so I was flying between the trees, determined to catch up to them.

I neared the base of the mountain and began following the trail around its base when I had an idea. I called out with my mind to Seth as I had yesterday and earlier today, and found his thoughts to be panicked. Sam was catching up to him, I saw in his mind's eyes, and he knew it.

Seth continuously tried to throw Sam off his tracks as he ran in many curves and loops, trying to get the large wolf to slide to the side and allow Seth to escape. I could see that they weren't very far ahead of me, so I pushed myself as fast as was possible. My muscles were straining, my emotions were running wild as I realized what Sam might do to Seth.

I peered into Seth's mind again, and vaguely heard Sam cursing at him and ordering him to stop and wait for his Alpha. Somehow, Seth resisted the Alpha order, and continued to run forward, his fear pressing him on. I could hear through Seth that Sam's thoughts were downright nasty, and that he would punish Seth for his betrayal to his pack and my mouthing off causing Sam to blame Seth. I growled in frustration.

As I continued to fly through the forest, I knew I was gaining quickly. My speed was twice as fast as theirs, and soon I could see Sam up ahead in the distance. I realized that Seth was leading Sam through rocky and rugged terrain to make following him more difficult, though I knew that would slow me down as well. I quickly began to angle my course, heading up the base of the mountain and onto some high flat cliffs, running parallel to their course as I quickly caught up. Soon I was running right alongside them, though they wouldn't be able to see me with their speed and my blending fur.

I continued to run, and when the tough part of the forest was past, I saw Sam begin to rapidly gain on Seth. I noticed also, that just up ahead was a part of the cliff that jutted out to the side. If I went at the edging at the right angle, I'd be able to jump off of that and land on the ground next to them while keeping up my pace. I nodded to myself and angled my running slightly so I was heading for the out-cropping.

As I launched myself off of the out-cropping, I saw below that Sam was right on Seth's tail, about to bowl him over. With a fierce howl ripping through my throat, I fell and landed just behind them. The jump and my incredible speed allowed me to catch up to Sam's side, and before he even realized I was there, I had pushed roughly against his shoulder and caused him to topple over, rolling over himself as he landed to a stop. Seth skidded to a stop once he realized Sam was no longer behind him.

He glanced back and our gazes connected, and I could see the calm spreading over his features as his worry and fear disappeared like a light being turned off. Something within me sparked upon gazing into his beautiful chestnut eyes, but before I could register what it meant, I heard Sam quickly rising to his feet from where he had landed.

I turned around and my hackles went up as I gazed upon Sam. A fierce snarl ripped its way out of my throat as I tried to hold back the brunt of my temper. I was about ready to rip his head off if I was given the chance, and I knew I could right now if I wanted to. Sam stood and snarled right back at me, taking a defensive position and baring his teeth. I bared my teeth and snarled back at him for a moment, enraged at his behavior.

After a moment of us both snarling at each other, I saw Seth stand by my side out of the corner of my eye. Sam's gaze snapped over to Seth and he bared his teeth at him, snarling and probably yelling at him through his mind.

Seth's will and gaze stayed strong as he stood there, facing Sam without a trace of fear. After a moment, Seth must've said something that set Sam off, because after a moment Sam leaped forward towards Seth, teeth bared and eyes wild.

I growled menacingly at Sam and snarled as I leaped into the air in front of Seth to block him from harm's way, allowing Sam's teeth to sink into my shoulder and his claws to rip gashes down my side as he attacked me. We both fell to the ground with Sam on top of me, and I quickly used my hind legs to nail Sam in the gut and cause him to go flying off of me. I leaped up and charged at Sam, snarling and snapping as I neared.

Sam didn't see the obvious danger and instead tried to roll so that he pushed my feet out from under me. I was prepared. I leaped over Sam's rolling form and landed on his other side, spinning and swiping my paw across his face, leaving a large mark. Sam howled in pain and fury and jumped up, using his brute force to try and shove me backwards.

Little did he know that I'm much stronger than he is.

His shoving moved me back and inch, an inch that I used to put my back paws where I wanted them. Then, palms digging into the ground, I shoved Sam back, one step at a time. I glared menacingly into his pitch black eyes as he glared right back, and after a moment of me shoving him back, I gave him a solid push before breaking off from our nose-to-nose pushing contest and moving out of the way. Sam huffed and glared at me, his teeth baring a furious snarl.

I snarled back quietly for a moment before my gaze snapped to Seth. I couldn't read the emotions going across his face as he watched us, and I felt it would be rude to tap into his mind again. Surprisingly, his mind hesitantly reached out towards mine. As our thoughts connected, he asked me _Are you alright?_

I mentally nodded and asked him the same. He nodded his big head at me slowly, his gaze now intently watching Sam. I heard Sam's paws leave the ground, and before I could turn my head to look, I knew he had leaped into the air at me, his goal being to bite and crush me. I didn't have to time to run, put a protective stance, and do anything useful. I was out of options. Right before Sam's body could collide with mine, I felt the air _whoosh_ and suddenly the threat was gone.

To my left, Seth had Sam pinned down with a paw to the throat, snarling and snapping within inches of his face. I was stunned; I hadn't expected that. Sam grew still as he realized where he was, and gazed up into Seth's eyes with a hatred so deep it made my blood run cold. After a moment of the two silently conversing, Seth took a steady step back and turned around, walking my way and then circling around me so that he was standing on my right, gazing down at Sam.

Sam got wearily to his feet, his injuries obviously taking a toll on him. He gazed at Seth in cold hard hatred and I quickly entered Seth's mind to hear what he was saying.

_While I realize why you came, that doesn't make it acceptable; neither does you attacking your pack leader! _He snarled. Seth's gaze bore down on his steadily as he replied.

_My place is not in your pack anymore. You're no alpha, just an owner of slaves Sam. I'm leaving; enjoy being a leader._ Seth said, standing up a little taller. After a moment, I felt the connection between Sam and Seth break. Seth was now a loner, and that was unacceptable. As I sat within his mind, I felt Seth accepting the gravity of what he just did, and taking responsibility for it. I was impressed, and very pleased. He would make a fine young wolf.

Sam, trying to be as dignified as ever, straightened his stance and turned around, trotting away and back towards the reservation without uttering a sound. Once he was gone, I gazed after him before turning back to Seth, who was watching me thoughtfully.

After a moment's thought, I spoke to him softly within his mind. _You are most welcome to join in my pack if you would like Seth; you have a lot of potential, and I'm impressed that you stood up and defended me. Thank you._ I said, meaning every word. He turned and gazed into my eyes with such tenderness I knew tears might come to my eyes. His gaze was so... adoring, wondering, and... loving.

He loved me; that much was obvious now. But so soon? Well, we did just defy his alpha together and get him thrown out of the pack. But why would that spark any connection? The only time I'd ever seen people connect and show so much devotion before was-

My mind suddenly came to a stop. The only time I'd seen that much devotion so early was when a wolf imprinted. I thought back for a moment to my mark flashing onto Seth's leg, and glancing down I saw it still there, easily seen if you knew what you were looking for. I then remembered a pack member back home imprinting on another pack member, and their symbols appearing on each other's legs.

Seth imprinted on me.

As I gazed back into his deep chestnut eyes, so much like a warm Autumn evening, I felt something in me snap. Suddenly, the entire world shifted and began to focus solely on him. I imprinted on Seth, just as he had imprinted on me. It was always there, though I hadn't realized it.

I gazed into his eyes, and suddenly could feel the alpha/pack member connection between us as he accepted the concept of joining my pack. He was now a pack member... and my imprint.

I knew he was listening to my thoughts, as his now came at me at the usual rushing torrent. Suddenly his mind focused only on that one word. _Imprint._

I gazed back into his eyes with a deep emotion that I knew could never be copied or replaced; I loved him. I took a half step forward and he took the same half step, his neck lying over my right shoulder and against the back of my neck as I mirrored his position. A wolf hug. We embraced deeply and held each other tightly as I began to hum softly, a deep throaty sound that I noticed Seth found to be rather soothing.

For a while we embraced, drinking in each other's scent and company for a while. Finally, we both pulled back and gazed at each other for a moment before I playfully nudged his shoulder. He nudged me back, a smile growing on his features. I nudged him back and playfully nipped at his ear before skipping out of his reach. A tinkling laugh filled my mind, and I heard his soft one in response. Side by side, the two of us trotted together through the underbrush and back towards our home.

_Our home_ I thought with a smile. Seth caught the edge of my thoughts and bumped my shoulder lightly, grinning as his head filled with peaceful thoughts.


	5. Imprinting Patrols

_**New chapter, hhuurrrraaaayyyy! :D Let's read some fun stuff ;)**_

* * *

**MPOV**

Side by side, we made our way back slowly through the deep woods. I glanced up at the swiftly darkening sky and realized we hadn't been out very long. That chase had only lasted about fifteen minutes, and the battle afterwards lasted another ten. I don't know how much time passed where Seth and I just held each other, but not very long I'm assuming. It was then I remembered that I was supposed to go find my sisters and their imprints.

I grinned when I thought the word _Imprint_. Just thinking it reminded me of the wolf walking beside me, matching my pace step for step. The wolf that I knew loved me as I loved him. I glanced over at him out of the corner of my eye, and found him glancing at me at the same time. Our gazes locked and I grinned wolfishly at him. He grinned back softly, content.

After a moment, I bumped his shoulder and took off running, though not super fast as I had before. Enough that when Seth came chasing after me, his thoughts full of laughter, I could keep my tail just out of his reach. I howled out in pure joy to the evening sky and kicked up the pace, leaving Seth to start falling behind. I blocked my thoughts from him for the most part, making it seem like I would keep running.

I didn't. My thoughts portrayed me running straight, but in reality I made a loop and then hid behind a large clump of thick trees and bushes, my fur blending in well with the leaves on the forest floor. After a few long moments, I heard Seth approaching, laughter still filling his thoughts as he believed he was still close behind me, though he couldn't see me.

Just as he was about to cross into my path, I timed my idea and jumped out at just the right moment, knocking into Seth as gently as I could so we both tumbled over each other in a mess of fur, rolling for a moments until we crashed into a huge pile of leaves. For a moment we just sat there, before I howled a laugh, and reopened my thoughts to Seth. After a short pause he howled with me, his eyes dancing with amusement.

We both sat up next to each other, catching our breath and still laughing in our heads. After a moment our laughter subsided and I glanced up at Seth, and found him already staring at me. I got trapped in his gaze; his eyes were so beautiful and mesmerizing. His eyes were like a warm sunset, like the most colorful mix of leaves in the Autumn.

That's how I would describe them; Autumn eyes. I slowly started to smile before realizing that he had just heard me thinking about nothing more than the color of his eyes. I was sure glad my fur was such a darker shade than my normal skin so he couldn't see my blush. I ducked my head down, embarrassed. I heard and felt the vibrations from his paws hitting the soft Earth as he took slow and steady steps towards me.

He crouched down so his gaze could be level with mine, and I got caught into the trap of his beautiful Autumn eyes again. He slowly started to rise back up into a sitting position, my gaze locked to his as I followed him back to a normal sitting position. Our gazes stayed locked and he leaned in and rubbed his furry wolf cheek against mine softly, humming gently.

The humming sound he made was different than mine. Mine was soft and light and sometimes difficult to hear, but his was deep and strong and smooth. His was like a soft lullaby sung to a young child to help them to not be afraid of the nightmares and let them rest in peaceful sleep. It's the kind of song that makes you believe in wishes and follow your dreams. One where you could look hell in the face and say "It's so nice out today, isn't it?"

His tone was so soothing that all my embarrassment, fear, anxiety, worry, and hesitation suddenly disappeared. I felt myself sitting a little straighter as I leaned into his warm sandy fur, humming gently. Our two tones mixed together in perfect harmony, and I could feel myself growing lighter. The darkness around me was disappearing.

After a moment, Seth's humming quieted and mine with it. He pulled back and looked into my eyes for a moment before rising up. I followed his lead and the two of us continued to trot side by side through the forest. As we continued to move along, I felt so happy and carefree that I was surprised at it. I hadn't felt this way for a lloonngg time.

As we got to more familiar parts of the woods, I could smell home not too far away. As we got nearer, we ran into the tracks of the six teenagers I had originally gone out for. They had gone back towards the house, and I smiled. _More time with Seth_ I thought giddily. He grinned at me and bumped my shoulder gently before starting to run, laughter in his thoughts.

I laughed and chased him towards our home, grinning wolfishly and staying right on his tail, making sure I didn't catch up on purpose. After a moment I thought _What the hell_ and pummeled into him gently, sending us both tumbling so that I landed on top of him, laughing. I howled out in laughter and he howled in response, both of us having nothing in our thoughts but carefree wonder.

Seth grinned wolfishly at me and I reached down to quickly lick his cheek before jumping off of him and bounding through the bushes where I'd left my clothes to get changed. He laughed at me and got up, shaking his fur out before trotting a short ways away where he'd apparently left his clothes. After I heard his paw steps disappear, I let the icy feeling tremble down my back like a cascade of cool water and silk as I felt myself go from four paws to two feet.

Once I was back on my own two feet, I smiled in pure joy and quickly got dressed in the clothes I'd been wearing earlier. After a very short minute, I was dressed and ready to head back completely. I listened intently for Seth but heard nothing. Puzzled, I stepped out from behind the thick trees and bushes into the slightly open area where Seth and I had just tussled playfully.

I listened carefully with my over-sensitive ears, and after a moment I heard the soft pad of someone jogging my direction. Smiling, I knew it to be Seth. When he came into view from behind the mass of trees, he ran towards me and gathered me in his arms in a fierce embrace, breathing in my scent as I took in his.

His hug was one of the bone-crushing werewolf hugs I'd come to love. He hugged me tightly so I was pressed up against him, his arms around my waist while mine were around his neck. I took in huge gulps of his scent, and after a moment my breathing went back to normal and I felt calm and safe in Seth's strong warm arms. For a moment the two of us just stood there, hugging each other tightly like the world would collapse if we didn't. When we finally separated and started walking home, we were never more than a foot apart, and our hands were always linked together.

As home came in sight, I saw all the lights on and could already smell Esme's cooking from here. We appeared into the backyard and walked to the sliding glass back door. When I opened it and walked into the kitchen, everyone's heads turned at the sound. When they saw us standing there everyone smiled happily, relief crossing Esme's features as she gazed at me and a warm smile taking over as she gazed at Seth.

I knew when everyone's eyes zoomed in on our linked hands, but we didn't let go. We simply walked hand in hand to the table and sat down together in the last two seats, side by side. We released our linked hands and quickly piled our plates with food, tired and hungry after our long day and terrifying evening in the woods.

The others eyes widened slightly at the amounts we were quickly scarfing down. Alice raised a delicate eyebrow at me and I fixed her with a steady gaze that went right through her. I watched her pale slightly and noticed Jasper's features go a little paler as he watched her face drain slightly. I sensed when he picked up her hand from under the table, rubbing soothing circles on it.

She slowly began to calm down, but her gaze didn't leave mine for very long. I continued to eat, and once I was satisfyingly full, I announced "Family meeting. Now."

Everyone nodded and began to clean up their plates. Esme set to work clearing off the rest of the table as all of went into the living room, save Carlisle who opted to hang back and help her. Everyone found comfortable spots in the living room to sit. Alice, Jasper, and Rosalie sat on one of the couches while Emmett leaned up against the arm rest beside Rosalie. Edward, Bella, and I sat on the other couch beside the first one while Seth leaned against my arm rest.

I gazed up at Seth with a small smile on my face as I took in the perfect curves of his face, the well-defined muscle in his arms that you wouldn't see at first. My eyes drifted back up to his perfect face, where I saw him staring across the room at the blank tv screen, deep in thought. I laid my hand on his arm softly, and he refocused his gaze before glancing down at me, a small smile growing on his features as I stared at him in worry and adoration.

He smiled lightly at me and I smiled back before Esme and Carlisle came walking into the living room. They sat down in the two arm chairs and for a moment there was silence as all eyes turned expectantly towards me.

"So, I suppose you all are wondering about where we were." I began, looking around at the faces of my family and pack. Nods from a few people, and Alice's eyes were boring into mine with a deep intensity. She knew this was something far more serious than a simple imprint coincidence.

"Being lovebirds I suppose?" Bella teased me. I sent her a calm but sad look that instantly shut her up and sobered her. Seth slipped his hand into mine, giving it a gentle squeeze as he did. Encouragement and support; exactly what I had needed.

"If only it were so simple. Originally, my errand back outside was to find the six of you and tell you to come in for dinner. When I shifted and found out you were back in human form, I set out to find you. Instead of crossing your scent, however, I crossed Sam's." There were looks of surprise from many faces.

"I thought I smelled something dark and musty in here." Alice commented. Rose furrowed her eyebrows.

"Why would he be here? He belongs on the rez." She asked, confused. I sighed to myself.

"He was here looking for Seth. When I told him that Seth was hanging out with us, he got angry and said he was going to order Seth home. II explained to him that it was wrong to order others in a pack around when it wasn't a necessity, and he told me not to tell him how to run his pack." I mapped out the conversation to them. Esme frowned.

"As I said earlier, it was like having no free will." She commented quietly.

"Like a slave." Seth muttered, holding my hand but looking down at his feet with a stormy expression in his eyes. I squeezed his hand comfortingly before looking back to all of the others.

"So, what happened then?" Bella asked. I grimaced slightly.

"Well, I followed his scent, and found him chasing after Seth, and he wasn't doing it just to say 'Hello'." I told them. Narrowed eyes met mine from many directions.

"He was threatening to rip me apart the moment he caught up to me." Seth told the group quietly. I rubbed my thumb in soothing circles on the back of his hand. He relaxed a little, but that look of sorrow didn't quite leave his eyes.

"I chased after them and eventually caught up enough to pummel Sam from the side, stopping his pursuit. After an argument between Seth and Sam, and a bit of scuffling, Sam left for home. Seth decided to switch packs with us. It was quiet after that, especially when I realized Seth was my imprint." I told them. Happy eyes met mine from all corners of the room.

"Congratulations Alpha." Rose winked at me. I rolled my eyes at her. Alice's eyes were sparkling.

"So _that's_ where we saw that strange symbol thing before!" She said, a large smile on her face. I nodded and laughed lightly, smiling as well. Everyone was peaceful again.

Too bad I had to give them the bad news now.

"Alright, now comes the fun part of our pack meeting; schedule time!" I said, sounding excited. The others all groaned, including Seth. I swatted him playfully on the arm and he glanced down at me, giving me a sly wink. I tried not to let the tingles run through my body as he did that, instead choosing to look back at my unhappy pack.

"You all know it has to be done. Now then, the patrols will be run in shifts of two wolves each. You will run on a shift from seven to eleven, eleven to three, and three to seven. These may seem tough and burdensome and tiring, but you must get used to whatever shift schedule you are placed on for the good of the pack. You will pair with your imprint, only because I don't want you to be changing courses to check on them, or complaining to me about never seeing them because of patrols. It won't be allowed!"

"I will construct a patrol schedule tomorrow, but for tonight the patrols are as follows. Seth and I will take the first patrol shift to mark out our patrol paths and chart territories. The second shift will be Rose and Emmett, and the third shift shall be Bella and Edward. You guys will learn about patrols in our way from your imprint as you run. Girls, please leave nothing out as you explain to them. Patrols will always start here at the house and extend around our patrol sites. Everyone understand?" I asked them. I received nodding heads in return.

"All right, Seth and I will begin patrols. The rest of you had better not be late for patrols. If you are, then I shall know." I said, tapping my head in a way that made Jasper flinch noticeably. "Tomorrow while we are at school, Esme will talk with your parents and the principle on a made-up story of our new training programs that require you to be out of school on Wednesdays, and train after school each day until seven. She can also speak with your parents about the entire wolf ordeal; she seems to have a special knack for excusing you disappearing from the house at three in the morning." I gave her a knowing glance.

"Alright, I know I've babbled enough. Unless anyone has anything to say, we are dismissed." All was quiet, so everyone stood and went their separate ways. Seth and I went out the door away from the rest, into the cool sunset air. Taking a deep breath of the wonderful Autumn air, I practically floated behind a tree to undress and shift. I sighed in relief when my paws touched the ground; that felt much better.

I loped out of the cover of the trees into the open, where Seth was waiting for me. Grinning at him, I went to his side and nudged him softly before turning and trotting back into the undergrowth. Shaking his head with a smile in his thoughts, he followed me.

Following the scent of the border and using the forests that surrounded the entire town, Seth and I managed to map out a patrol path and stake our territory in Forks. When we were trotting, it would take us about twenty-five minutes to make a complete loop around the border. If were running, it took an average of ten minutes. Once I was satisfied with the patrol paths around the town, surprised when we didn't have to cross paths with any roads, Seth and I split up for the patrol to take official effect.

Seth knew how to patrol easily, keeping his eyes and ears wary for any signs of an intruder and learning the natural ways of the forest around him when he began to make conversation. _So, how do you think the new pups will manage patrolling?_ I hummed quietly.

_It'll be tough for them for a while, and you as well. However, everyone should settle into their routine by the time I go back to the South for my orange-band test. I'll be more comfortable leaving you guys here alone at that point._ I told him. He frowned in his thoughts.

_I won't be happy to see you go._ He complained. I chuckled quietly.

_Don't worry; it would only be for a day or two, and then I'd be back up here where I belonged. Besides, it's a necessity._ I reminded him. He huffed but said nothing. We patrolled in silence for a while before a thought occurred to me.

_Hey, Seth? _I started.

_Yeah?_ He responded.

I sighed. _Are you going to be okay, going back over onto the rez after you left Sam's pack? _He winced at the thought.

_I hadn't really thought about it, but now that you mention it I think you're right. My own sister might turn on me if I came home smelling like another pack._ He said, wrinkling his nose in disgust. I snorted a laugh.

_You can always stay out our house; there's plenty of room, and Esme would love to have you around._ I told him softly. He mentally paused to consider, though his steps never faltered in my mind's eye.

After a moment, he quietly said, _I would like that very much, if it isn't too much of a burden._ I smiled in my thoughts, mentally releasing a yip of joy. Seth laughed in his mind, his paw steps taking on a new bounce as he trotted through the trees.

For a while longer we were quiet, simply enjoying one another's mental company. When the hour stroke eleven, we returned home to see Rose and Emmett already shifted and waiting for us. I smiled and trotted up to them, nudging Rose's side happily as she nudged mine back, sniffing my pelt for the scent of the trail.

_Teach him everything he needs to know about patrolling, and then split to cover the area. Seth and I made sure the trail was clearly marked, so you shouldn't have any issues. I'll see you in the morning._ I told her. She nodded to me and trotted off into the trees, Emmett hurrying to catch up to her. I snorted quietly and suddenly felt Seth's pelt brush up against mine. I turned and laid my furry head on his furrier shoulder, feeling the warmth in his wolfish embrace.

After a moment we separated into the trees to shift and change. Once that was done, we went into the warm and quiet house hand in hand.

I was unsurprised to find Esme still awake, sitting quietly in her chair in the living room and sipping a cup of tea while looking over some paperwork. She glanced up at us when we came in and she smiled.

"I was hoping you would be back soon, though I haven't been keeping an eye on the time." She said, gesturing at the load of paperwork on the coffee table in front of her and in her lap. I smiled at her and approached, standing casually with my hand still in Seth's. Esme put down her tea and gave us her full attention now.

"I was hoping Seth could live here now; I know its sudden to ask, but I hate the idea of sending him back across the border with Sam and the other pack waiting there for him." I told Esme. She pursed her lips and thought about it for a moment, before nodding slowly.

"Yes, that should be fine. I'll go over to your house tomorrow Seth to collect your things and bring them back here. I assume you shall be staying in Maddie's room?" She asked, giving Seth an honest stare. He blinked once in surprise before nodding somewhat sheepishly. Esme smiled at him calmly and he relaxed a little bit.

"Yes, that should be fine indeed. We'll figure out the details tomorrow I suppose. Now then, off to bed you two; you have a very long day tomorrow." Esme said, smiling softly. I kissed her on the cheek after saying goodnight, and led Seth back upstairs to my room. We stepped in and closed the door, and Seth looked around in the same awe as he did earlier.

"Are you going to paint the rest of us onto these walls?" He asked me. I smiled and nodded to him, looking at the many empty spaces I had on my walls. There was plenty of room in there for our pack to fit, since I had yet to paint them into it. I yawned suddenly, covering my mouth with my hand as I did so. I turned to look at Seth and saw him catching onto my yawn as well. I smiled softly and turned to my dresser drawers, opening one and digging inside.

I finally pulled out a pair of large gym shorts and tossed them to Seth, pointing wordlessly to the bathroom. He took them gratefully and slipped inside, closing the door behind him. It took him a moment until the light switched on, and then I turned to get pajamas for myself. I pulled out a pair of soft black yoga pants and a dark blue tank top to go over it. Seth opened the bathroom door and stepped out, bare-chested and wearing my large gym shorts, which fit him perfectly.

His clothes were neatly folded on the bathroom counter, and I took mine inside to put them in my clothes hamper. Seth turned to me when I stepped back out and turned out the bathroom light. "Why do you keep these handy?" He asked me. I shrugged.

"It's an old habit from the Sand pack. Often enough one of the guy members would have to crash at our house, so I usually had something laying around for them to fall asleep in. I'm kind of glad I kept that tradition now." I said, my eyes running across Seth's bare chest, which was tanned and looked silky smooth. I didn't notice Seth's eyes were on my bare shoulders until he stepped towards me. I stepped towards him and he pulled me into the soft circle of his strong arms, his chest warm and comfortable to me.

My hands were wrapped around his back as his were wrapped around my waist, holding me close. His head was on my shoulder, rubbing against the bare skin of my neck and shoulder gently, soothingly. My head was rubbing against his soft chest in the same way. After a moment, I sighed and backed up, looking at my clock which now read 11:26. Seth shrugged and turned to bed, while I put my yellow band on my desk and turned out the light.

I crawled under the covers next to Seth and he immediately pulled me into his warm embrace. With my back to his chest, our bodies fit together perfectly and comfortably. I sighed happily and snuggled deeper into him, his arms around my and his head above mine on the pillow. My last thoughts were of how much I loved him before I fell into the deep sleep I needed.


	6. Shadows in the Meadow

_** ANOTHER CHAPTER is ready. Yes sir (or ma'am), my writing skills are at your service! *Bows with a flourish***_

* * *

**MPOV**

I awoke slowly, my eyes blinking in the gloom. Sitting up carefully so as not to wake Seth, I glanced around my dark room. My clock said it was 3:02 in the morning. I rubbed my eyes, wondering what it was that had awoken me. After a moment I understood.

_They just switched shifts for patrols, and it sounds like Bella is giving Edward a run-down of the rules._ I thought to myself, hearing the whispering of their conversation in my head. Shrugging to myself sleepily, I slipped back into Seth's warm arms and fell back into my deep sleep.

When I next awoke, it was quick and refreshing. I sat up and yawned, stretching my arms far above my head as I did so. My back popped and I winced from the sound, but otherwise felt great. Glancing at my clock, I was surprised to see that it was 5:36. Confused but happily surprised, I crawled out of Seth's sleeping form and pulled the covers back up to his shoulders, letting him sleep a while longer.

I padded quietly over to my closet, grabbing an outfit for the day and sneaking into the bathroom, shutting the door softly behind me with a tiny _click_. I quickly stripped and took a short and refreshingly cold shower, coming out of it smelling like mint leaves and rose blossoms. I quickly dried out my hair and let it hang down in its usual wavy form, brushing it back out of my face. I quickly dressed in my outfit for the day, adding makeup and earrings to finish it all off.

Today I wore blue ripped jeans, but instead of showing skin under it I showed an under-layer of black gemmed felt. I had a neon green shirt that hugged my waist but rose up to clearly show my belly-button, with a v-neck and thin aqua string straps that went over my shoulders and criss-crossed across my back. Written on the shirt in aqua blue cursive writing was the phrase '_It only takes one voice to start a song'_.

My mood necklace was hanging down in the front, and I had silver dangle hoop earrings in my ears. An aqua headband held my hair back out of my face, and my shoes were black converse with green and blue designs on the side. I looked at my reflection in the mirror and smiled, causing my light-blue glittery eye makeup to sparkle. I felt ready to take on the challenge of another day.

Feeling quite chipper for so early in the morning, I opened my bathroom door and skipped back into my room. I went to my desk to slide my thick band onto my left wrist and glanced over at Seth, who was still snoozing in bed. I glanced at the clock and saw that it was 6:13 and sighed. He needed to get up and start moving if he wanted to be ready for school today.

I walked across my room and crawled up next to Seth onto the bed. He mumbled in his sleep and moved closer to me and I held back my giggles. I reached forwards and stroked a tuft of hair out of his beautiful face, resting my hand on his cheek as I stared at his sleeping form. He sighed happily in his sleep and mumbled "Maddie…" I smiled to myself softly before leaning down to his ear.

"Seth, Seth, it's time to wake up. Wake up darling." I whispered in his ear, running a hand softly through his dark hair. He stirred a little bit and then slowly opened his beautiful chestnut eyes to stare at me. I felt a smile growing on my lips as he yawned and slowly sat up, stretching just as I had.

"Morning already?" He asked sleepily, running a hand through his hair. I smiled at him softly, and slight giggle escaping my lips. He opened his eyes for real and seemed to really notice that I was here. Smiling and completely awake now, he grasped me in a warm hug, my head laying against his chest… which was still bare.

"Alright you, go take a shower. You smell like wolf." I told him playfully, pretending to wrinkle my nose in fake disgust. Seth tapped my lightly on the nose with his finger and rolled out of bed, padding quietly over to the bathroom. He glanced back at me once with a soft smile before turning and closing the door behind him. A moment later, I heard the sound of the shower running.

I sighed in contentment and started making my bed, unknowingly humming to a song in my head. Once my bed was made, I floated out of my room and downstairs to the kitchen, where Esme was busy making breakfast. She glanced up at me when I came in and smiled, watching me float dreamily to the fridge for a cold water bottle. "Well, someone looks happy this morning." My mother commented softly.

I turned to her and smiled, unscrewing the lid on my water bottle as I leaned against the fridge. "I slept great last night after our patrol, and woke up refreshed. I forgot how much I missed the wolf life." I told her cheerfully. Esme smiled at me warmly.

"Well, breakfast won't be ready for a while, but if you're hungry there's some apples in the fruit bowl." She told me. I glanced over at the table where a small bowl of fruit sat, waiting to be eaten. For once though, I wasn't all that hungry.

"Nah, I'm alright. I'll see you at breakfast mom." I told her over my shoulder as I ran back upstairs. I heard my mother chuckling in the kitchen, but ignored it as I hurried back up to my room. I stepped inside right as I heard Seth opening the door to my bathroom to step out. He opened the door and gave me a bright smile, topped off by his still-wet hair. I ran over to him and hugged him, burying my head in his chest. He lifted my off of my feet and swung me around in a circle as I laughed.

He slowed and put me back on my feet, and then all I could see was his sparkling eyes and his big, goofy smile. Droplets were still falling from his wet hair and one dripped onto my face. Laughing and apologizing at the same time, Seth wiped the drop away, his palm lingering on my face softly. I leaned into his warm touch, closing my eyes as I did. Seth paused and then started slowly rubbing his thumb against my temple as his hand cradled my head.

I hummed softly, content. After a moment I pulled my head away to see his eyes practically glowing as he looked at me. I smiled softly and took his hand in mine, leading him back into the bathroom so that I could towel-dry his hair. The resulting effect was definitely more dry, but it was also in disarray and spiky. I laughed and used my comb to put it back into its usual casual, fluffy form.

Once Seth was ready, we went hand in hand downstairs to wait for breakfast. We went in the living room and sat down on one of Esme's beautiful and comfy brown couches. While we waited for breakfast to get ready, Seth and I talked about the pack and the border routes we came up with last night.

"I still can't believe we didn't manage to have to cross any human roads. Back at the old pack, roads were a big issue." I confessed to him as we sat there. He raised an eyebrow at me and then leaned back into his seat.

"Well, for one you have to realize how under-populated this place is. There really is only one way leading out of here. Another thing is that a lot of the roads and things go between cliffs and under bridges, so it's not much of an issue either. Plus, we didn't exactly circle the entire town, though I'll admit we got close to it. You did a great job picking our route." He told me, beaming in admiration. I laughed a little self-consciously.

"Well, yeah, I tried." I mumbled to him, blushing. He laughed lightly.

"Then you succeeded!" Rose exclaimed from the bottom of the steps where she stood dressed and ready to go. "That was the best patrol run I've had in a long time; this place is perfect!" She told me. I smiled at her, relaxing a little.

"How was running last night by the way? How did Emmett do?" I asked her. She flopped down in one of the living room chairs and sighed dreamily.

"It was wonderful; he's catching onto everything really fast, though listening to him try to control his thoughts is funny." She admitted, smiling lightly. "Other than that it went great; though he did manage to run into a tree." She admitted. I gaped at her, trying not to laugh.

"He ran into a tree?" Seth laughed the question. Rose nodded, blushing.

"A squirrel ran in front of him and he tried to go sideways so he didn't squish it and he ran right into a huge tree! It was the funniest thing I think I've ever seen." She told me. We all smiled and laughed about that. After a moment, we heard Alice coming down the stairs. She smiled brightly when she saw us all there.

"Morning guys." She said, bouncing over to plop into the chair next to Rose.

"Morning." I responded with a smile.

"Are Bella and Edward back yet?" She asked me. I shook my head at her.

"No, but they should be here soon." I told her, glancing at the clock hanging on the wall. Any minute now Bella should be home, though whether or not Edward decided to join her was yet to be seen. We sat around less than a minute longer before I felt Bella's form running towards our house, but without Edward.

"Bella's home." I announced. The others paused and listened, but after a moment they all gave me strange looks.

"If she were here then we would hear-" Alice suddenly broke off as Bella opened the front door and stepped into the main hallway, shutting it behind her and walking into the living room.

"Hey everyone." She said lightly, smiling as she sat down on the other couch. Alice and Rose gaped at me, but Seth only gave me a long stare, as if trying to figure me out. Bella saw everyone staring at me and asked "What's wrong?" I shook my head and stood, taking Seth's hand in mine as we turned and went into the kitchen to eat without another word.

As I sat at the table to eat, I could hear Rose and Alice whispering to Bella in the living room about knowing I was home. Glancing in, I saw that Bella looked a little bewildered. She glanced at me and I shrugged before turning to load my plate with a ton of food. The others joined after a minute, their stomachs winning over everything else. Our father Carlisle suddenly came downstairs and into the room, kissing a smiling Esme on the cheek.

"Good morning dearest." He said, reaching around her to grab a blueberry muffin. She smiled and offered him a piece of toast with it.

"Good morning." She said, smiling as she sat to eat with us. We ate in silence for a while, simply consumed with the need to eat a lot of food. When we were finally full, we stood to help Esme put dishes in the sink and dishwasher. After that we each kissed her on the cheek before going out the door, except for Seth who didn't kiss her cheek and was stopped before he left.

"Seth," Esme called as he turned, "is there anything in particular you want me to grab besides the basics?" She asked him. He thought about it for a moment and then shook his head. Esme waved us farewell then, turning and disappearing into the house. We all hopped onto our motorcycles and they fired to life beneath us. Seth hopped onto the back of mine and we were suddenly speeding off towards school.

We made it to our parking spots with a few extra minutes to spare. Unsure of what to do, I scanned the parking lot. After a moment, I saw Emmett waving us over from his huge silver jeep parked across the lot. Smiling, I led Seth and the girls over. Once the imprints saw one another, they ran into each other's arms. Rose and Emmett started kissing immediately, Alice and Jasper were suddenly dancing, and Edward had Bella in his arms, stroking her hair. I smiled at the six of them; they really were perfect for one another.

The warning bell rang then, and everyone hurried inside to their classes. I split ways with all of my friends then, and went to my first hour class with Angela as my table partner. I tried paying attention to Miss Wible, but every now and again I would glance out the window to stare dreamily at the forest. Thinking about the wolves kept me so distracted that I didn't ever hear the bell ring until Angela tapped me on the shoulder. I glanced up at her knowing grin.

"Yeah, that happens to everyone in this class. It's alright; Wible doesn't mind so long as you pass her tests." Angela said, gesturing to the board where it said in big letters 'TEST THURSDAY'. I grinned at her and grabbed my things, waving farewell to Angela when we made it to the hallway. I went into my Pre-Calc class and sat in my seat, surprised that Jessica wasn't already there. I furrowed my eyebrows but shrugged my shoulders, uncaring.

The final bell rang and Mister Anderson was closing the door as Jessica zoomed in and plopped down into her seat, leaning back and breathing heavily as if she'd just been running. I raised an eyebrow in her direction but didn't comment, turning to pay attention to the lecture. Jessica calmed down right as he began our notes, and instead of getting out her notebook and pen, she leaned on the table and stared straight at me. I continued writing my notes that were projected onto the screen while asking quietly "What?"

She relaxed a little back in her seat and said, "You'll never guess where I just was." I shook my head and bit my lip as I tried to copy notes without Jessica's words somehow slipping between the phrases. "Well, see, there was this situation going on between Mike and that girl Samantha. You know who I'm talking about?" I shook my head and continued with the long page of notes.

"Okay, well, Samantha is this girl with long black hair and a nose button piercing, and she and Mike were having a fight. I didn't know what it was about, but Samantha looked ready to kick his ass, and Mike was mad too. They were yelling at each other and a bunch of people had stopped to watch. I pulled Samantha out of there before it got any worse, but then she screamed at me and ran off. Talk about a major drama queen, right?" I rolled my eyes but said nothing.

After a moment Jessica turned and started talking to the people behind us about what happened in the halls, but I ignored them. I knew only one thing for certain; she wasn't about to copy my notes just because she wanted to gossip. We took notes for another fifteen minutes, during which Jessica managed to spread the fight gossip through the room. I sighed in relief when Mr. Anderson shut off the projector and turned the room lights back on. He gave us our homework assignment from the textbook and then retreated to his desk to play computer games.

At this point, everyone in the class had put their stuff away and were sitting around talking. Jessica wasn't even in her seat next to me anymore, but was across the room sitting on one of the work tables we all shared. I sighed in relief and started working on my math problems when in my peripheral I saw a book set down on the table next to me. I glanced over and saw an unfamiliar face smiling at me.

Not that having an unfamiliar face was such a big deal, since I was new here, but something about his face just seemed… wrong. I couldn't really place it, but I knew something about this guy was just… different. For starters, you could tell he wasn't from around here. His hair was as red as fire, and curled up from his head. His eyes were a sparkling malachite green, and the bones in his face were fairly angular for his age. He was tall and lanky, and wore nothing but a pair of simple jeans and a brown t-shirt. He gave me a friendly smile as I noticed his presence.

"Do you mind if I sit here? Jessica sort of invaded my table again." He said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of Jessica, who was sitting completely on the work table with her feet in someone's chair. I grimaced in her direction but didn't comment on her seating position. I turned back to the stranger, realizing I was being rude.

"I'm sorry, yeah, of course you can." I said, waving in the direction of the seat. He smiled and sat in the yellow chair, putting his green backpack on the floor beside it. He opened his book and pulled out a piece of paper, working on his questions. I smiled to myself and returned to my own work. For a few minutes it was peaceful at our table, before he stuck out his hand in my direction.

"I forgot to introduce myself; I'm Briar Lockwood." I shook his offered hand, which had surprisingly long fingers.

"I'm Madelyn Cullen; call me Mads." I told him. He smiled brightly.

"And you may call me…" He paused, a dramatic moment building in the air as wiggled his fingers at me in a mysterious manner, "Briar!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. I laughed and shook my head at him, thinking him to be quite funny. He waggled an eyebrow at me and I laughed quietly, looking back at my work. I snorted once when I thought about how silly he had just been before returning to my homework.

Right as I was finishing the last problem, the bell rang. I closed my book with a satisfied smirk on my lips; no homework for me. I glanced back at Jessica, who was walking towards the room's exit with some chick with blonde hair. I shook my head to myself; poor Jess.

I slung my backpack over my shoulder and stood, and Briar put a hand on my shoulder. "It was great to meet you Mads." He said. I smiled at him then.

"Indeed, it was. Have a great day Briar!" I told him as I walked out of class, going down the hall. I walked in thought for a moment before someone pinched my right side. I glanced over and no one was there. I glanced to my left and saw Briar grinning from ear to ear. He laughed when I glanced over my right shoulder again in confusion.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him. He raised an eyebrow at my comment.

"You're not the only kid in school who has to walk this way to get to their third hour class." He pointed out. I pushed him playfully on the shoulder before smiling back. We walked for a minute, not really talking or doing anything but walking. When we reached my class, I waved goodbye to him again and stepped inside. I put my stuff beside my desk and then saw that Jasper was already in his desk next to mine, smiling at me.

"Hey Mads." He greeted me. I smiled at him, genuinely happy to see him.

"Hey Jazz. How's it going?" I asked him lightly. He shrugged with a small smile on his face.

"Pretty good actually. Really excited about our first training session today." He told me. I cheered up even more at the sound of training.

"Oh yeah, training is today! This will be awesome!" I exclaimed happily, pumping my fist dramatically in the air. Jazz laughed at me, but otherwise made no comments.

"Yeah. So, how was patrol last night?" He asked me casually. I turned to him and raised an eyebrow.

"Great actually. We got everything mapped out pretty clearly, so there shouldn't be any issues. I think you may like it, if you stay awake well enough to keep at it." I told him. He scoffed and waved a hand at me as if to say _No big deal_.

"So…" he hesitated for a moment before asking rather quietly, "Did Esme talk to our parents yet?" I had almost completely forgotten about that. I turned to look at Jasper with two eyebrows raised. When he finally noticed he gave me a startled look and asked, a bit defensively, "What?"

"Do you miss _anything_ that is said in a conversation?" I asked him in disbelief. He suddenly relaxed.

"Not when it's important." He told me, winking slyly. I giggled to myself and turned to look up front as the teacher called the class to order. The rest of the hour was boring and non-eventful. When class finally ended, I hopped up out of my seat and said a quick "See ya!" to Jasper before hurrying to my fourth hour class.

The rest of the day passed in a blur of people talking, work being done, and rumors running through the halls about Mike and Samantha's fight. I thought nothing of it, other than the fact that people needed to keep their drama to themselves. When the last bell of the school day finally rang, I hurried out of my classes to my motorcycle, who waited for me patiently. I hopped onto it, eager to get home and get ready for training.

I sat on my motorcycle waiting for a moment before I pulled out of the parking space I shared with Rose's bike and pulled around to the bottom of the steps in front of the school doors. After a moment of waiting, I saw who I was looking for; Seth. He grinned eagerly when he saw my bike and pushed through the swarm of students, jumping onto the back of my BoomBaby as I pealed out of the school lot.

I raced home, excitement curling in my stomach. I'd never been so excited for a training session in my entire life! Seth could obviously sense all of my excitement, because he seemed just as eager as I did to get home. Then again, maybe he was just excited in general.

We pulled down our driveway and I parked my BoomBaby, turning off the engine and hopping off. Seth hopped off and then suddenly swooped me up in his arms, spinning me around in his arms. I laughed and clung to him, waiting until he slowed down and we both laughed lightly. I looked into his eyes and suddenly got caught in them, looking at their beautiful chestnut color. A flare of orange was flickered in his eye, making it look like Autumn leaves.

We stared at each other for a moment, the warmth in Seth's eyes drawing me in to look closer, like a moth to a flame. Suddenly, we heard the distinct sound of three motorcycles and one large jeep barreling down the driveway. Seth paused and slowly set me down on my feet, still staring into my eyes as if there was something there that was too important for him to let go of. After a second, though, he sighed and glanced away, pulling me out of the driveway so that the others could pull in without hitting me.

As Seth turned to talk with the guys, I paused to think about what had just happened, feeling as though I were missing something very important. I shook the thought away and then hurried to catch up with the others, not wanting to miss out. When I reached them I took charge of the group, leading them into the forest on foot for a moment in order to change. We all spread out and shifted, grouping together again once everyone was ready.

I knew Esme and Carlisle wouldn't be joining us in our training for the most part, so I didn't bother to wait for them. We all sprinted through the woods on quick paws, though it wasn't an effortless grace for all. Emmett stumbled often, and Edward seemed distracted by his surroundings. Even the girls were having a few issues.

I sighed and sped up a little, trying to remember where Seth and I had seen that clearing during our patrol scouting. Suddenly, Seth was at my side, grinning at my wolfishly before sprinting ahead of every else, towards a yellow light that seemed to glow from somewhere ahead in the trees. I raced towards it, leaving the others trailing far behind. The only thought on my mind was that beautiful golden light, with Seth waiting right in the middle of it.

He stopped beside the light, looking into it and gesturing for me to take a peek. He grinned at me and then chuckled as though I had said something funny. The sound reverberated through my eardrums, and I smiled in spite of myself. I padded up next to him so that my pelt would brush his, and peered into the golden light where the meadow was. I hummed happily and nuzzled my head into Seth's chest, but it felt strange.

I looked up at Seth's furry form in spite of myself, and was surprised to see he wasn't as solid-looking as he was a moment ago. He looked more like a spirit now, hollow and thin. He was still smiling at me, his humming fading into the background before the sound, and he himself, disappeared altogether. The golden light disappeared with him.

Confused and afraid, I spun in a circle, looking for where he and the wonderful golden light could have gone. I spun around again, and again, becoming frantic for a moment. Then, I saw movement in the distance, of the rest of the pack catching up to me. I was stiff for a moment, and then relaxed back into my normal self, radiating calm and control. The pack reached me, a little tired and windswept, but happy.

_Mads, you didn't have to take off like that! We lost sight of you for a while!_ Alice scolded m in her mind. I growled softly at her, lightly.

_Yes, but however your eyes would lead you astray, your nose would point you in the right direction._ I told her wisely. She huffed and flicked her tail at me, stalking away. I sniffed a laugh in her direction and then turned to look at the sandy wolf whom now stood before me. He cocked his head at me, questioning without thinking the question itself. I shook my head at him, thinking for a moment about the Seth I'd seen before pushing it out of my thoughts entirely. Now wasn't the time.

I led the others into the clearing and looked at it in awe for a moment. I remembered now, last night when Seth and I stumbled upon this clearing. He had shown me how beautiful it was and how it would be a great place for the pack to hang out. Now, it was to become the perfect training grounds.

I led the pack into the clearing, where they gazed around at the golden swaying grasses, the lilac flowers, the stream flowing far on the other side of the beautiful meadow. Alice nipped at Rose's flank playfully and sprang out into the golden grass, Rose fast on her tail as they ran and frolicked. Bella soon scampered after them, barking a laugh as she tackled Rose gently, tugging on her ear.

The boys watched for a moment, before they began to go romp and play. Even Seth joined in, chasing Alice around the clearing for a while before rumbling with Edward as they play-fought in the tall grasses. I at on my haunches and watched them play, content in their puppy behavior. After a while of me watching, I noticed a golden honey pelt walking calmly towards me from across the field. He sat down beside me and watched the others play, as content as I was.

"It's amazing what a handful of stressed teenagers can boil down to when you really try. They went from dignified teenagers to excited children within seconds of seeing this place. It's perfect." He said, turning his large, furry head my way. I snorted softly in agreement, watching the others playing.

"You don't have to try and hold it together for everyone you know." I glanced over at him sharply, and he gazed back calmly, and frankly. "We are your pack now; you can trust us with whatever happens to you. We trust you." He said, resting one big paw on top of mine comfortingly. I nudged his shoulder affectionately and he nudged me back before standing up and springing over to join the others in play.

I sat in thought for a moment longer. Who knew that Jasper was so attuned to everyone else? I'd never realized a person could pay attention so much and manage to consol a confused wolf like me at the same time. I shook my furry head and slowly stood, feeling as though I were using a stranger's paws. I shook out the fur in my neck and then padded slowly towards where the others were frolicking in the grass.

When they all saw me coming, they slowed to a stop, their eyes still bright. Their tails flickered nervously as I stared at them, no emotion in my face or thoughts. I looked each one square in the eye before saying, "It's time to train."


End file.
